Faith, Hope, and Trick
by Paigeypie96
Summary: Basically a retelling of how I think this S3 episode should've went. Details inside. F/F pairing. Don't like it, don't read it.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Hello, people, and welcome back to another beginning of a femme slash story! Seems to be my specialty, huh? Well, for those of you who read/enjoyed my Charmed fic (Paige/Phoebe), I'm hoping you will enjoy this one. It is basically how I think the Season 3 episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer ("Faith, Hope, & Trick") should've went, which means another slightly altered retelling. The pairing for this story will inevitable be Fuffy (Faith/Buffy). Don't like it? Don't read it. Simple as that. I'm hoping to have a few more chapters of this up tomorrow, and I'll start writing on it as soon as I wake up...God only knowing when THAT will be. Haha. Anyways, remember that reviews are greatly appreciated and for those of you who know me, you should know this already, but I'll state it again for those of you who may just be tuning in: NO FLAMES WILL BE TOLERATED. They will be deleted instantly. Like I said before, don't like it, don't read it. Thanks for taking the time to read this little piece of fried gold and enjoy the story. (:

~Yours Truly,  
Paige

P.S. I'll still be continuing my other two main stories ("When a Death Eater and a Baker Collide" and "Blind Mag's Story"), so fret not, my dedicated readers (LET A GIRL DREAM!)

* * *

Daniel "Oz" Osbourne stood outside of Sunnydale High in the shining California sun with his redheaded girlfriend Willow Rosenberg. He stood beside her in his normally rigid way, squinting his eyes against the bright sunlight. His baggy blue jeans, orange t-shirt, and green and blue flannel top all felt hot against his skin, but he wasn't about to complain. His short hair was spiked up in its usual way, the way that made Willow smile and say how cute he looked. He smirked slightly as the scent of his girlfriend's fragrant perfume hit his werewolf-enhanced nostrils.

Willow was bouncing back and forth on her heels in a nervous excitement. Her long legs were wrapped up in not-too-tight jeans that were bright red in colour and above that, on her torso, she wore a grey wool sweater which left Oz wondering how she could stand the heat when he was dying to let his tongue loll out and pant to be rid of it. Willow's hands rested on her hips as a small smile splayed across her lips.

"I'm giddy," she announced to her faithful boyfriend.

"Oh, I like you giddy. Always have," Oz replied. He smiled slightly as Willow looked down at her feet with a grin and blushed madly. She looked back up at him and continued rocking back and forth.

"It's the freedom!" she exclaimed suddenly. "As seniors, we can go off campus now for lunch. It's…no longer cutting. It's legal! Heck, it's expected!" she babbled. Oz looked down to study his feet as she continued. "Oh, it's also a big step forward, a senior moment, one that has to be savored. You can't just rush into this, you know?"

Oz peered back over his shoulder and motioned for the now-approaching Xander and Cordelia to help him out. As they came closer, he took Willow by the arm on her right side while Xander grabbed her left, and they proceeded to tug her away from the school—her protesting all the while.

"Ohh! No, I can't!"

"You can," Xander said.

"See, you are," Oz added.

Cordelia smiled at the sight of her boyfriend and their friends struggle and pushed her wavy brunette hair back behind her ear.

"Oh, but, no, what if they change the rule without telling?" Willow pleaded as she felt her panic attack rising. "What if they're lying in wait to arrest me and—and throw me in detention and mar my unblemished record?"

"Breathe," Xander ordered as the four friends stopped and he released the redhead. "Breathe."

Willow instantly began to straighten herself up while continuing to hold Oz's hand. "Okay. Hmm… This is good. This is—hey, we're seniors. Hey, I'm walking here! Ha-ha. Ahh…"

Xander put his arms around Cordelia's tanned shoulders while Oz walked protectively close to Willow. He smiled at the sight of the missing member of their group. "Ah, Buffy and food," he announced as he watched the blonde who was sitting on a picnic blanket. She was putting down plates and unpacking a basket full of food. He couldn't help but let the thought cross his hormone-crazed mind of how cute she looked in her yellow sundress with a matching yellow sweater thrown around her shoulders.

Willow's former giddy expression turned to one of worry as she ran her fingertips up and down Oz's finely muscled arm. "Maybe we shouldn't be too couply around Buffy."

Cordelia raised an eyebrow at the redhead and blurted out, "Oh, you mean 'cause of how the only guy that ever liked her turned into a vicious killer and had to be put down like a dog?"

Xander sighed and rolled his eyes at his girlfriend while Willow and Oz looked at her with taken aback expressions. "Can she cram complex issues into a nutshell, or what?" Xander joked.

"All right, prepare to uncouple…" Oz broke the extremely awkward conversation. "Uncouple," he ordered smoothly and he released Willow's hand while Xander put his arm back at his own side. Willow walked to stand beside Cordelia while Xander and Oz walked next to each other in a collected buddy-buddy sort of fashion.

"Buffy, banned from campus, but not from our hearts! How are you and what's for lunch?" Xander asked good-humoredly as the four friends all sat down surrounding the blonde on the picnic blanket.

"Oh, I just threw a few things together," she confessed.

"When did you become Martha Stewart?" Cordelia asked, not caring enough to mask the malice in her voice.

Deciding to ignore her smarmy tone, Buffy continued laying out the food she's prepared for her friends. "First of all, Martha Stewart knows jack about hand-cut prosciutto. " She smiled at Cordelia as she handed Oz a bottle of water.

"I don't believe she slays, either," Xander amended with a serious look of concentration upon his face.

"Oh, I hear she can, but she doesn't like to," Oz replied sarcastically.

"SECOND of all, way too much free time on my hands since I got kicked out of school," Buffy added as she finished passing out the bottles of water and took one for herself. She twisted the cap off the plastic bottle and held it up to her lips to take a long swig.

"Oh, I know they'll let you back in," Willow assured with a nervous smile as she too took a drink from her bottle.

"Don't you and your mom have a meeting with Principal Snyder?" Xander asked with obvious distaste in his voice.

"We're seeing Snyd-man tomorrow," Buffy answered, curling her lip slightly at the thought.

"Ooh, Scott Hope at 11 o'clock. He likes you," Willow gleefully announced as he hair was blown back by the light breeze swimming around the school grounds. Buffy looked up in the direction her friend was describing and her eyes rest upon a really cute boy with brown hair and dark eyes. He was talking to another blonde sitting on a bench. His backpack was slung over one shoulder and appeared to be throwing him off balance. "He wanted to ask you out last year, but you weren't ready then. But I think you're ready now or at least in the state of pre-readiness to make conversation, or to do that thing with your mouth that boys like!" Willow went on.

Buffy's head snapped towards her redheaded friend and she stared at her in disbelief; her green eyes blaring.

Slight colour instantly rose to Willow's ashen cheeks as she realized the double-meaning of her words. "Oh, I didn't mean the bad thing with your mouth. I meant that little half-smile thing that you—," she stumbled for words, glaring up at Oz. "You're supposed to stop me when I do that," she stated firmly.

Oz shook his head slightly and grinned down at his girl. "I like when you do that."

Willow's shoulders slumped as a small, but sheepish grin formed on her face.

The boy now known as Scott Hope began walking in their direction. Buffy merely gazed at him with a slightly confused expression. "Hi, Buffy," he greeted in a deep, but charming voice and continued to walk on.

"Hi," she replied shyly and smiled up at him.

Once he was past, Willow grinned at her best friend. "I think that went very well. Don't you think that went very well?" she asked her friends.

"He didn't try to slit our throats or anything. That's progress," Cordelia noted with a teasing smile towards Buffy.

"Hey, did you do that little half-smile thing?" Willow asked animatedly.

"Look," Buffy sighed dejectedly, "I'm not trying to snare Scott Hope. I just want to get my life back, you know, do normal stuff."

"Like date?" Willow muttered sarcastically as she took another sip from her water.

"Well…." Buffy looked down and tried her very best to memorize the exact pattern of the blanket she was sitting on.

"Oh, you want to date!" Xander exclaimed matter-of-factly. "I saw that half-smile, you little slut. Ha-ha." He continued laughing until Buffy gave him a "Stop-It-Or-Regret-It" look and threw a punch at his shoulder. He continued to laugh until it died down to a whimper and he clutched his shoulder. "Ow…"

"All right, yes, date and shop and hang out and go to school and save the world from unspeakable demons." She nodded her head with a smile and looked around at her friends as if the answer were obvious. "You know, I want to do girlie stuff!"

~X Later That Evening X~

A shining black limousine pulled up to the drive through of a very abandoned-looking Happy Burger. The moon reflected off of its pristine, midnight hue. It continued to drive around the small building until it pulled up next to the ordering slot.

"Welcome to Happy Burger. May I take your order, please?" a voice asked over the machine.

"Diet soda…medium," a calm voice replied smoothly.

"That'll be 89 cents at the window, sir."

The coloured man in the expensive looking suit sat back in his leather seat and rolled the tinted window back up. His dark eyes scanned the sky as a smile revealed two crisp, white rolls of teeth as the limo drove the next few feet to the window. "Sunnydale," he breathed. "Town's got quaint. And the people? He called me sir. Don't you just miss that? I mean, admittedly, it's not a haven for the brothers. You know, strictly the Caucasian persuasion here in the 'Dale. But, you know, you just gotta stand up and salute that death rate," he explained over his shoulder to the hunched over man sitting behind him. "I ran a statistical analysis, and hell-o, darkness!" He smiled wickedly. "Makes DC look like…Mayberry, and ain't nobody saying boo about it. We could fit right in here, have us some fun."

A husky growl sounded from further back in the limo. "We're here for one thing," a gravelly voice reminded the man. He patted the man on the knee with a cloven hand.

"Kill the slayer, yeah…" the black man mocked. "Still, big picture!" He rolled his eyes at his boss and rolled down the window as the drive-thru boy handed him his diet soda. He replaced the soda with a dollar in the young boy's hand.

"Have a nice night, sir," the youth said with a smile.

"Right back at ya," the older man said pleasantly as he began rolling back up his window.

"The slayer—I'm going to rip her spine from her body, then I'm going to hear her heart and suck the marrow from her bones."

The black man clucked his tongue in disappointment. "Now I'm hungry." He surged out of the still-open window and grabbed the young boy by the collar of his shirt. With a guttural growl, he pulled the teen into the vehicle and proceeded to drain him of all his precious life liquids as the limo drove away speedily.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Still no Faith yet, and I know it's exactly like the episode so far, but I promise that'll change when she's introduced...even if only slightly at first!

* * *

The Bronze—it truly was the only club that was considered "cool" in all of Sunnydale. While it looked like just an old warehouse to any person standing on the outer perimeter, it was a sea of mystery to any adolescent who chose to dwell on the inside. Of course, as one opened the door, they'd be greeted by a face full of cigarette smoke, the smell of cheap booze, the laughter of teenagers, and the notes of live music being played. It was here that Buffy and her friends chose to spend their free time after a long day of school and slaying on most nights of the week.

Soft chords of guitar began to play as couples danced around in the clear area beneath the stage. Some dances were closer and more intimate than others, but they were all slow and romantic in their own way.

Buffy Summers had her slender arms wrapped around a tall, handsome young man whose hair looked tousled and messy. They were looking into each other's eyes longingly as they held onto each other and turned slowly to the beat of the music. Their lips would occasionally brush together in a laid back, very gentle kiss. She ran her hand up his arm and across his shoulder. "I miss you," she whispered to him.

Xander, Willow, Cordelia, and Oz all sat at a circular table off the side of the dance floor and looked at the two listlessly. Their eyes were blank and glassy as if displaying some extreme boredom that one would never really understand until they'd experienced it for themselves.

Buffy slid her hand back down Angel's arm until their hands were touching, her slim fingers brushing over the back of his softly. The music continued to play in the background as Buffy's promise ring slipped off her finger and clattered noisily to the floor. As she heard it hit, she pulled back from Angel's embrace and looked at him with wide eyes before they both looked down to the fallen ring.

As Angel bent over to pick up the silver piece, the music faded until all was silent around them. He fixed Buffy with a questioning look as her breathing sped up and she trembled nervously. Her mind flashed back to the time when she had punctured his very flesh to send him to Hell instead of the rest of the world.

"I had to…" she muttered shakily.

Angel squeezed the ring in his hand until warm, scarlet blood began dripping from between his fingers. "I loved you," he said warily, his own voice trembling now with anger.

As Buffy continued to look at him in fear, his white shirt became bloodied in the exact place where she had stabbed him. "Oh, God! Angel—!" she began.

"GO TO HELL!" Angel yelled in fury as Buffy's hand reached out towards the blood stain on his shirt. When Buffy looked back up, Angel was laughing softly. His face had turned a sickening green colour and bits of his skin had rotted away, revealing the equally green muscles underneath. His eyes were clouded over and dead. He grinned to reveal yellow and black rotting teeth. "I did," he whispered.

Buffy awoke from her nightmare with a start. She was lying in her own bed; the pink and white sheets pulled up tightly around her. Her blonde hair was pushed back and damp with sweat. She felt her face contort into a look of confusion as she looked around her room. With a sigh, she brought one hand up to run her fingers through her hair as she pushed her blanket back and got to her feet—ready, but not willing, to start the day.

She looked at the purple nightstand beside of her bed and opened the single drawer on it slowly. When it was open, she reached in and pulled out the silver ring Angel had given her before he died. It was hanging from a matching silver chain which she clutched tightly in her hands.

A knock on her door broke her from her reverie. The smiling face of her mother entered her bedroom and said in a sing-song voice, "Morning, sunshine. Ready to face…the beast?"

~X~

Principal Snyder sat behind his extremely cluttered desk with his hands crossed in his lap. The open windows behind him made the sunlight shine off of the crown of his bald head. A snide expression…graced…his face as he looked upon the young blonde and her mother. "Here are the terms of your re-entry, missy," he stated matter-of-factly, "take 'em or leave 'em. One—that you pass a makeup test for every class you skipped out on last year."

Buffy was only half-way listening to him as she picked up a silver letter-opener from the top of his desk and played around with it in her fingers. Her mother sat beside her, glaring at the high school principal skeptically.

"Two—that you provide, in writing, one glowing letter of recommendation from any member of our faculty who is not an English librarian. Three—that you complete an interview with our school psychologist who must conclude that your violent tendencies…are under control," he finished as he stood from his leather office chair and walked around the desk, angrily snatching the letter opener from Buffy's hands.

"I'm not sure I like your attitude, Mr. Snyder," Joyce Summers—Buffy's mother—stated simply. "I spoke with the school board, and according to them—."

"I'm required to educate every juvenile who is not in jail where she belongs," he finished for the upset mother coolly. He paced back behind his desk and looked out of the open window to his school grounds. "Welcome back."

"So, let me get this straight…" Buffy drawled smoothly as she stood up from the uncomfortable sitting chair she was in. Her mother smiled approvingly at her, encouraging her daughter's behavior. "I'm really back in school because the school board _overruled _you. Wow! That's like having your whole ability to do this job called into question, when you think about it." She smirked at her principal ever-so-slightly. Joyce did the same and stood up to stand beside her daughter as Principal Snyder turned around with a sneer on his face.

"I think what my daughter's trying to say is…nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah!" she sing-songed. Buffy grinned at her mother's choice of words as they both turned away from the principal and exited his office, basking in their triumph over him.

Principal Snyder continued to glare after them until the intercom buzzed softly. "_It's the mayor on line one,_" a disembodied voice stated coolly. Principal Snyder's mouth just slowly dropped open as his eyes fell to the floor in disbelief.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Again, sorry no Faith yet. D: And yes, I know it's STILL the same, well, not entirely.... There's a little bit of change in this chapter, but most of you won't notice it unless you play the episode right with it. And who honestly would take the time to do that? -_- Well, anyways, enjoy Chapter 3.

* * *

The swinging wooden doors to the library opened to reveal a very happy looking Buffy Summers and a nervously excited Willow Rosenberg. "It's so great that you're a schoolgirl again!" Willow cheered as she smiled at her best friend of 3 years, now.

"Giles say what he wanted?" Buffy asked her bouncy redheaded friend as they moved to stand in front of the librarian's desk. On the counter lay an assortment of herbs and spices, and there was no doubt in the two young girls' minds that the Watcher just wanted to talk shop. "Do you think he's mad?"

"No, I don't think so," Willow replied as she ran her hand across the smooth surface of the replica stone counter. "I think he just needed to see you," she continued as she turned towards the blonde slayer. She offered her a small, but reassuring smile as she pushed her red locks back behind her ear. "Have you ever noticed, though, when he is mad, but he's too English to say anything, he makes that weird cluck-cluck sound with his tongue?"

Buffy grinned and rolled her eyes at her hyperactive friend as she made many hand gestures referring to her previous statement. Her eyes moved to look at the librarian who had just risen from behind the counter. "Hi, _Giles_!" She looked back at her friend and raised a quizzical eyebrow towards her before they both turned around to face the older man.

Willow's face looked panic-stricken and nervous as her eyes met the Watcher's. "Oh, hi. Been there long?" she asked. Buffy just smiled at her friend before turning her eyes upon the man she cared for as her father.

"Buffy, good timing," Giles praised as he shifted through some more supplies. "I could use your help. I trust you remember the demon Acathla?" he questioned as he bent over to shuffle through even more supplies.

"Giles, contain yourself!" Buffy scolded sarcastically. "Yes, I'm back in school, but you know how it embarrasses me when you gush so! Let's just skip all that and get straight to work."

Giles looked at his charge questioningly before realization hit him and his eyebrows rose involuntarily. "Oh, uh…" he stammered. "Well—I, uh… W-W-Well, of course, it's wonderful to have you back. That goes without saying. But…you enjoy making me say it, don't you?" he asked as he glared playfully at his slayer before slipping his glasses back into their place.

"Okay, Acathla, huh? What are you doing, making him some demon pizza?" Buffy asked as she toyed with some of the herbs lying out on the counter. Willow smiled slightly at her friend, but kept her eyes fixated on the herbs.

"We need to make sure that he remains dormant and that the dimensional vortex is sealed tight," Giles stated as he turned towards the far wall and once more began looking for supplies.

Buffy picked up a small bundle of the herbs and brought it close to her nose. After giving it a hearty sniff, her face contorted into one of utter disgust as she turned and held it under Willow's nose. The redhead merely sniffed it and smiled wider.

"So, I'm working on a binding spell," Giles continued as he finally found the other herbs he needed and placed them beside the ones that were already assorted on the counter.

"Ooh, a spell? Can I help?" Willow suddenly asked with hope in her eyes.

"Possibly, with the research," Giles replied sullenly. "It's very sensitive and—."

"Well, who's more sensitive than me?" Willow cried out.

"…And difficult spell. It involves creating a protective circle around—Well, I don't want to bore you with the details, but h, well, there's a litany that one has to recite in Aramaic, and it's very specific… So, I need to get a few details about your experience of defeating Acathla and Angel."

Buffy turned her head towards Willow and gave her a sarcastic look that seemed to say, "Ooh, you've just been schooled." Her expression died away as she saw the hurt in Willow's eyes and her shoulders instantly slumped. "Fire away," she said without life.

"Well, I've put the time at about, uh, 6:17, about half an hour after Xander rescued me," Giles stated as he once again turned his back to the two young women and resumed looking for something.

Buffy's face went slack with sadness as memories flashed back and forth in her racing mind. "Less. More like ten minutes," she corrected the Watcher as he turned back to face them.

"Oh, was the vortex already open?"

Buffy nodded her head and looked off to the side, avoiding her Watcher's eyes. "Barely."

"I see," Giles muttered, sensing the hurt Buffy was experiencing, but he needed the information. "And Angel?"

Buffy's shoulders shrugged. "A big fight. Angel got the pointy end of the sword; Acathla sucked him into hell instead of the world. That's about the 'it'." Buffy crossed her arms and leaned very slightly against Willow, who looked over at her with a worried expression.

"Yes, well, that, um, should be very helpful," Giles concluded.

"Oh, no!" Buffy exclaimed as she looked down at her wristwatch. "I have to go take an English makeup exam." She walked towards the books she'd originally come to check out. "They give you credit just for speaking it. Right?" she asked nervously.

Giles and Willow both looked at her with eyebrows rose.

"Ohh," she groaned slightly as she turned her back on them and walked out of the library morosely.

Willow turned her attention back towards the librarian as she picked up the bundle of herbs Buffy had held under her nose earlier. "Mmm! Sage. I love that smell." She set the bundle back on the counter and her hand went into a small jar containing what looked to be regular sand. "And marnox root… You know, a smidge of this mixed with a virgin's saliva…"

Giles turned towards her and removed his glasses, fixing her with a penetrating stare.

"…does something I know nothing about," Willow finished in an awkward stammer.

The Watcher walked forward until he was standing directly in front of the young redhead. "These forces are not something that one plays around with, Willow. What have you been conjuring?" he asked sternly.

"Nothing…much. Well, you know, I tried this spell to cure Angel, and I guess that was a bust. But since then, you know, small stuff—Floating feather, fire out of ice, which next time I won't do on the bedspread. Are you mad at me?" she asked innocently as she looked up at him with a cute puppy dog pout.

"No, of course not, no. If I were…I would be making a strange clucking sound with my tongue," he replied with a teasing smile.

Willow merely smiled back at him sheepishly as a slight blush rose to her cheeks.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Yay! Finally something I can alter slightly! :D Enjoy.

* * *

Soft rock music played softly from the stage of the Bronze as teenagers writhed and swirled below, each in their own little world as they danced about. Two teenagers stood out more so than the others, however; one because his clothes looked like they came straight from the 70s, and the other because she was a dark beauty and she was grinding against that boy who had really "lame" dance moves.

Oz and Willow sat in the corner of the room on a caramel coloured sofa. Their lips were pressed tightly together in a passionate kiss. Both of their eyes were closed tightly and Oz was brushing her red hair away from her face as they continued to kiss.

Buffy held three drinks in her hands as she walked up to the couple and sat down in a matching seat next to them. "Don't let me interrupt," she chided as she sat down. Willow and Oz immediately broke apart.

"Are you—Is she all glow-y?" Willow asked, slightly breathless as Buffy handed her and Oz the two of the drinks in her hands.

"Yeah, I suspect happiness," Oz replied as he took his arm from around his girlfriend to grab his drink. He fixed Buffy with a scrutinizing expression as she smiled at the happy couple.

Buffy scrunched her nose up as she smiled. "I passed my English makeup exam, hangin' with my friends. Hello, my life, how I've missed you," she joked as she took a small sip from her own drink.

Willow grinned and started to bring the cup up to her lips, but immediately pulled it away as one cute boy from earlier on in the week approached them. "Hi, Scott! What are you doing here?" she asked in surprise.

Buffy looked at him with equal shock as he replied, "You told me if I came after 8:00, I could run into Buffy…" Willow fixed him with a glare as Buffy looked towards her in disbelief. "Uh, I'm sorry. I'm a bad liar. It's not good for the soul. Or the skin, actually. It makes me blotch." He motioned towards his face with a winning smile.

Buffy nodded awkwardly. "Hi, Scott…"

"Hi," he laughed in reply. "Don't you love this song?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah, actually, I do," Buffy stated warily.

"Well, would you like to…"

"…dance?" Buffy finished for him as her expression went blank again. "Um, I don't know…" She looked towards Willow who was smiling at her reassuringly. "I'm bad with—well…thank you for asking." She blushed at her own stumble for words as she momentarily wondered if this was what Willow felt like. "It's just that there—."

"Okay, you know what? I'm just gonna go stand by the dance floor," Scott informed her with a defeated smile. "If you change your mind, you can mosey on over, and if not, then you don't mosey. No harm, no foul, right?" He grinned at her slightly before walking away to rejoin his friends.

"Right," Buffy sighed to his retreating form. As soon as he was out of sight, she threw her head back and groaned.

"Come on, Buffy!" Willow encouraged. "I mean, the guy is charm, and—and normal, which is what you wanted to get back to."

"Plus bonus points for use of the word 'mosey'," Oz added with a small grin towards the blonde.

Buffy scoffed and smiled back at her friends. "I just don't think I'm ready," she admitted softly.

"What's stopping you?" Willow asked sincerely.

"Check out Slut-O-Rama and her Disco Dave!" Cordelia said heatedly as she and Xander walked over to join their friends. "What was the last thing that guy danced to? K.C. and the Sunshine Band?" She rolled her eyes as everyone looked towards a dark haired girl grinding against some guy who was trying to pull off-beat disco moves to the soft rock.

Oz cocked his head sideways and tried to analyze their dancing, finding it very humorous in his own mind and secretly thinking that the brunette he was all over was kind of cute. Xander seemed to be thinking along the same lines, and surprisingly enough, Buffy was too.

Her green eyes never left the lithe form of the grinding girl and she felt her head slip sideways just as Oz's had earlier. Just as her heart beat increased slightly, the brunette motioned towards the boy as if telling him to take her away from the crowd. With that, he put his arm around her and they "boogied" off the dance floor together and off into the crowd. Buffy's heart sank slightly as he throat became very tight for some reason unbeknownst to her. Her eyes followed them through the crowd until they exited the Bronze together.

"I don't think that guy thrives on sunshine," Buffy murmured distractedly. Feeling an intense urge to save that girl, she sprung from her seat and marched after them, being stopped by Scott Hope halfway across the Bronze. "_Damn!_" she thought as she mentally growled. She could just picture that badly dressed vamp draining the dark haired angel of all her blood, and it made her stomach flip.

"Hi," Scott greeted.

"Hi. Oh, no, I…I—I have to—," Buffy stammered as she motioned towards the door.

"Oh. Uh, uh, sorry, my bad," Scott replied awkwardly as he stepped aside.

"No, it—it's mine," Buffy groaned as she wrung her hands tightly against each other. "Really, it's mine, but I… I—I have to go."

She looked back towards her friends and motioned for them to follow her. She quickly stepped around a crestfallen Scott and ran towards the exit.

Outside of the Bronze, she looked around frantically for the gorgeous brunette and her undead boyfriend. Xander, Willow, Cordelia, and Oz all followed suit and ran out of the Bronze looking anxious. "Where'd she go?" Buffy asked her friends worriedly as she spun around, looking for some trace of the girl.

"I bet it's nothing," Cordelia groaned. "They're probably just making out."

Buffy felt her heart sink once more at Cordelia's words, but miraculously hoped the smarmy princess was right.

Buffy's head snapped in the direction as a rough voice yelled out "HEY!" and was followed by a metallic thud. "That's not what making out sounds like," Willow yelped. "Unless I'm doing it wrong…" The blonde slayer raced towards the sound and found the boy leaning towards the girl; his face was contorted into its vampiric state, and Buffy's heart raced in fear for the girl.

His hands slid up the girl's perfectly tanned arms as her hands balled into fists against the chain link fence she was leaned against. "Stop struggling. This won't hurt," the vampire hissed as he leaned in towards the girl's neck.

Surprising the whole Scooby gang, the brunette lashed out and punched the vampire in the face, spinning him away from her. Her teeth were bared in a vicious snarl as she jumped up and roundhouse kicked her assailant.

Buffy stopped in her tracks as the girl turned towards her with a dazzling smile. "It's okay, I got it. You're, uh, Buffy, right?" Her smile died away as the vamp ran up and grabbed her shoulders from behind. Baring her teeth again, she swung her head back and head butted the man in his face, instantly causing to him to release her. "I'm Faith," she hissed as she took the man by the arm and flipped him over her shoulder and into the fence.

"I'm gonna go out on a limb and say there's a new slayer in town," Oz muttered to his girlfriend as Faith continued to beat the man senseless.

"Can I borrow that?" she asked Buffy as she took the wooden stake from Buffy's limp hand. With a dramatic style, she pinned the vampire against the fence and pierced his heart with the sharpened piece of wood. She turned around and smiled at the small group as the man turned to dust behind her. "Thanks, B. Couldn't have done it without you," Faith murmured as she handed the blonde slayer the stake.

An electric shock was sent through Buffy's skin as Faith's hand brushed against hers momentarily. The brunette must've seen the confused look on the blonde's face, because she instantly curved her lips upwards in a small grin and thought, "_I wonder if she felt that, too?_"


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Now we be cookin' with gas! :D

* * *

Back in the Bronze, the Scooby gang sat listening to Faith as she told stories from her past. The looks on all of their faces revealed plainly that they were enthralled. "The whole summer was like the worst heat wave. So, it's about 118 degrees and I'm sleepin' without a stitch on, and all of a sudden, I hear this screamin' from outside!" Faith continued in her slightly Southern accent. She was sitting cross-legged on a high-stool across from Buffy. Willow and Oz were sitting close to each other off to her left in matching chairs while Xander and Cordelia sat in a maroon coloured couch to her right.

"So, I go tearin' out, stark nude, and this church bus was broke down and there's these three vamps feasting on half the Baptists in South Boston," Faith continued.

Xander licked his lips slightly and refused to take his eyes off of the brunette slayer. His girlfriend sat next to him with her legs and arms crossed. She was glaring up at the new slayer in a predatory fashion.

"So, I waste the vamps, and the preacher comes up and he's hugging me like there's no tomorrow, when all of a sudden, the cops pull up and they arrest us both," Faith finished with a grin around the assembled friends.

"Wow! They should film that story and show it every Christmas," Xander sighed as he watched Faith bend over to grab a drink from the table in the center of the small alcove in which they were seated.

Buffy watched the slayer move and felt her throat go tight again, and she was struggling to keep a cool and straight face as she felt a warmth rise between her legs that sent small tremors up and down her spine. She swallowed hard and looked away from her friends; the struggle evident on her face.

"God, I could eat a horse," Faith mumbled. "Isn't it crazy how slayin' just always makes you hungry and horny?" Her question was directed at Buffy, and once she saw the blonde's cheeks go crimson, she smiled even wider.

Willow, Oz, Xander, and Cordelia all looked towards Buffy in bewilderment. Faith grinned at her counterpart and wondered what she would say.

Buffy's eyes darted back and forth between her friends before she looked down sheepishly. "Well…sometimes I crave a nonfat yogurt afterwards," she admitted as her blush deepened.

Realization suddenly dawned upon Cordelia and she gasped. "I get it!"

Faith looked at her in shock and wondered if she picked up on her flirting with the blonde. Buffy coughed slightly and wondered something along the same lines.

"Not the horny thing, yuck!" Cordelia continued. "But the two slayer thing. There was one, and then Buffy died for, like, two minutes, so then Kendra was called, and then when she died, Faith was called."

Faith shrugged her shoulder and silently sighed in relief.

"But why were you called here?" Willow asked with concern.

"Well, I wasn't. My watcher went off to some retreat thing in England, and so I skipped out," the brunette admitted quietly. "I figured this was my chance to meet the infamous Buff and compare notes."

Buffy smiled at the dark slayer, and for a moment thought of asking her on a "date" later to "compare notes", but she knew that would bomb. All she really wanted to do was get to know this rebellious slayer.

"So, B, did you really use a rocket launcher one time?" Faith asked with a laugh as she grinned at the heroine.

"Uh, yeah, actually, it's a funny story. There's—," Buffy began, but she was cut off by a rather horny Xander.  
"So what was the story about that alligator?" he asked hurriedly. "You, uh, said something before."

Faith's brow creased slightly and her smile died away. She'd been eager to hear the slayer's stories. With an apologetic glance towards her counterpart, she saw the crestfallen expression upon her face. Her chest seemed to tighten up at the hurt look within those big, green eyes. Used to being the one to make the first move, she hopped down from her bar stool and went to sit on the sofa beside Xander and Cordelia. She shifted around, acting like she was getting comfortable, until her knee was slightly touching Buffy's.

Buffy looked at her questioningly while Xander and the others laid in wait to hear the brunette's story.

"What?" Faith asked with a smirk. "Am I not allowed to play Slayer Musical Chairs to be closer to you, B?"

Buffy could only smile at the other slayer and unconsciously she pressed more of her leg against Faith's. Looking down at their touching legs, Buffy hung onto every word as Faith started a new story.

"There's this big daddy vampire out of Missouri who used to keep a few gators as pets. So, he's got me rasslin' one of 'em, okay? The thing must have been twelve feet long and I'm—," Faith began, but found herself cut off by Xander.

"And so, was this, um, ahem, also naked?" he asked with a gulp. Buffy fixed him with a glare, and if looks could kill, Xander would've had a dagger stuck straight through his heart.

Faith grinned and pushed her curled tresses back behind her ears. "Well…the alligator was," she teased.

Buffy felt the warmth between her legs increase greatly as the unbidden mental image of this girl wearing nothing and wrestling with an alligator entered her mind. It took everything in her not to moan out softly, but she did cross her legs tighter. This was a mistake, as the newfound pressure caused her mind to go fuzzy for a few moments, during which she did gasp out slightly.

"Are you alright, B?" Faith asked with sincere concern laced through her seductive voice.

"Mm…mmhm," Buffy managed to squeak out. Her friends all looked towards her with questioning expressions. Willow giggled quietly, knowing exactly what was happening.

Cordelia turned her gaze back on her boyfriend, remembering what he'd asked. "Xander, find a new theme," she ordered hotly.

Faith smirked again and brought her hand up to examine it. "I tell ya, I never had more trouble than that damn vamp. So, what about you? What was your toughest kill?" she asked the blonde slayer. Her interest was sparked now, and she felt the insatiable urge to get to know this girl better, and that was something that hadn't happened…as far back as Faith cared to remember, anyway.

Buffy's mind instantly flashed back to her fight with Angel, but she shook her head to be rid of it. "Um, well, you know, they're all difficult, I guess," she finally replied. Faith looked sideways at the slayer and wondered just what she was keeping from her. Her expression turned from curiosity to concern once more as she timidly reached out to lay her hand on Buffy's knee.

As soon as her hand made contact with Buffy's skin, the blonde instantly gasped softly and jumped, causing Faith to jerk her hand away as if burnt. "I'm…sorry…" Faith whispered, letting her eyes fall to the floor where she studied the carpet patterns deeply.

Willow, Oz, Xander, and Cordelia all eyed the two slayers with interest. All except Willow thought that the jumpiness of the original slayer must be due to the shock of finding another, after the initial blow of Kendra's death.

"Uh…oh, oh, do you guys remember the three?" Buffy asked her friends animatedly, trying to change the subject. All of her friends just looked at her with blank expressions, the name showing no recognition in their minds. "That's right, you never met the three. Well, there was three—."

Faith growled silently as Buffy was once again cut off by one of her friends. Damn it, she was getting tired of this! She really wanted with everything in her to know this girl, but she couldn't get the chance to.

"Something occurring," Oz interrupted. All eyes fell upon him as he continued. "Now, you both kill vamps, and who could blame you, but I'm wondering about your position on werewolves."

Willow put her hand on his shoulder as Faith looked at him with slight unease. "Oz is a werewolf," she explained gently.

"It's a long story," Buffy amended quietly. Faith looked at her and smiled gently. The blonde grinned back at her as she saw the warmth in the chocolate, doe-like eyes of the other slayer. "_I feel like a love struck puppy,_" she thought.

"I got bit," Oz admitted to the dark slayer, breaking the mood.

"Apparently not that long," the blonde sighed. Faith's hand went back out and rested on Buffy's knee, steadier this time. Buffy didn't jump or gasp; she just looked down at the slender fingers and smiled thoughtfully. Not wanting or daring to move her hand, Faith just continued to let it rest against Buffy's soft skin.

Faith laughed softly and turned to face Oz. "Hey, as long as you don't go scratchin' at me or humpin' my leg, we're five by five, you know?" Her hand instinctually squeezed Buffy's knee gently as she continued to giggle.

"Fair enough," Oz replied guardedly.

"The vamps, though," Faith continued, "they better get their asses to DEFCON one, 'cause you and I are gonna have fun, you know, watcher-less and fancy-free." She turned her attention back towards Buffy and grinned really wide, showing all of her neatly kept teeth. She cocked her head to the side slightly when she smiled, and Buffy couldn't help but notice this and ponder over just how cute it made the already gorgeous slayer look.

Her thoughts were instantly broken when she realized what Faith had said. "Watcher-less?"

"Didn't…yours go to England, too?" Faith asked as the smile died from her face.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **I'm not really sure that I'm happy with this chapter, but its the one where the Fuffy goodness REALLY starts adding up. This scene wasn't in the episode, but I think it should be! D: This was all straight from my imagination, and maybe I was inspired slightly by a Faith/Buffy YouTube video I saw earlier. Oh well. Who knows? Anyway, on with the story!

* * *

Later that same night, Buffy sat alone in her room thinking over the day she'd just lived out. It had started normally, as every other day did, with her waking from a terrifying nightmare. She and her mother had went to tell Principal Snyder off, she'd had makeup exams, she'd passed them, she hung out with her friends, and then her whole world changed. She met Faith…. Another slayer. They were the Chosen Two. She felt drawn to this woman for no explainable reason, and that was scaring her. Buffy had never even dreamed she'd be willing or open to a relationship so soon after Angel, but…she found herself wanting to be with Faith more than anything.

Her reverie was broken by a soft knocking at her window. She frowned in puzzlement and was instantly reminded of how Angel would often come into her room through the window, but she pushed that thought to the back of her mind as she stood from her bed and walked over to look out of the small window.

There, grinning back at her was the beautiful face of the dark slayer. She pointed upwards, motioning for Buffy to open the window and let her in. Buffy, still in a daze, did just that and watched wordlessly as the nimble slayer slid through the now-open window, shutting it quietly behind her.

"Hey, B," Faith whispered, thinking that Buffy's family might be sleeping, and not wanting them to know she was here regardless.

"Faith, what are you doing here?" Buffy asked softly, feeling her lips curve upwards into a small smile.

"Oh, I just thought I'd drop in and see how my favorite slayer was doing," she replied nonchalantly. Smiling at the blonde, she walked over to the pink and white bed and flopped down. Buffy automatically moved to sit beside her. Their knees were touching slightly and that was enough to send sparks of electricity through the both of them, causing the two women to shiver slightly. "So, B, how's life treatin' ya?" Faith asked as she lay back on Buffy's bed.

"You're forgetting that its 12 a.m. on a Wednesday, and I've got school in a few hours," Buffy teased as she lay back to join Faith.

"Sorry to interrupt your beauty sleep, B. Not that you need any _beauty_ sleep," the slayer grinned flirtatiously.

"Oh, but my, aren't we corny?" Buffy laughed. "Now, what are you really doing here?"

"Like I said, I came to see my favorite slayer. I was sitting in my motel room, and I couldn't sleep, so I decided to go out patrolling, and that inevitably led me here…to you."

"I can't sleep either. You're welcome to stay though, if you like," Buffy offered with a small smile. Faith merely smiled back at her and nodded.

"Thanks, Princess."

"Why couldn't you sleep, Faith?" Buffy asked curiously, turning to lie on her side so she faced the slayer.

"I was, um, just thinking," the brunette stammered as she looked into Buffy's deep, emerald eyes.

"That's the reason I couldn't sleep," Buffy teased quietly.

"Okay, okay. Enough with the third degree," Faith joked, throwing up her hands in mock surrender. "I give, B. I was thinking about you. What were you thinking about?" Buffy felt a blush creep across her cheeks as Faith looked at her expectantly.

"I was…um, err, thinking of you, too," Buffy admitted, her voice lower than a whisper.

Faith grinned in triumph. "Yeah, what about me?" She felt her throat tighten uncomfortably as she realized that she could've taken Buffy's revelation in the wrong way, and suddenly she was afraid of the blonde's answer.

"I—uh," Buffy trailed off as her blush deepened and she found herself unable to answer the brunette.

"Well, 'uh' is a good thing to think about, I suppose," Faith replied with a smirk. "It's funny, though… I was thinkin' of how much I wanted to do this…" She let her eyes flutter shut as she leaned in towards the slayer's lips. Though Buffy saw it coming, her whole body went rigid and her own eyes slipped shut as Faith's full lips made contact with hers. It took Buffy's mind a while to register what was happening, but soon she was able to kiss the dark slayer back.

Her fingers soon began to snake their way up Faith's body, only stopping when they were thoroughly tangled in the luscious, dark tresses that crowned the slayer's head. Buffy then pressed herself against the form of the other woman, causing Faith to moan softly into Buffy's mouth.

Faith was the one to break the kiss in vital need of oxygen, but as soon as she'd taken a lungful, her lips were instantly upon the blonde's once more. They kissed urgently and passionately and neither of them was willing to stop there.

Buffy's eyes opened as she pulled her lips away from Faith's slightly swollen ones, and she tilted her head sideways to place a trail of gentle kisses along Faith's jaw line and down her neck. Faith squeezed her heavy lidded eyes shut tighter and gasped quietly at the feel of the blonde's soft lips against her skin.

Her eyes snapped open as the feel of Buffy's lips died away. Her breathing hitched as she wondered if she was back in her motel room and if that had all been just a dream. But her insecurities instantly dissolved as she was greeted by the warm smile of her counterpart. She blinked slowly a few times before smiling back at the girl. "Hey, B," she whispered for the second time that night.

"Hey yourself," Buffy teased as she nuzzled Faith's neck with the tip of her nose and pressed herself back against the slayer.

Faith's arms instinctually wound around the slim girl and pulled her closer. "What does this mean, B?" she asked tenderly as she brushed a few stray strands of hair away from Buffy's face.

"Well, it means whatever you want it to mean," she replied as she took Faith's hand in her own and held it tightly.

"I think you know exactly what I want it to mean," Faith teased as she placed a gentle kiss on the tip of Buffy's nose. Her facial expression suddenly went serious as she looked into the blonde's eyes once again. "B, you have to know that I'm usually the 'Get Fucked, Then Chucked' girl, and I don't want that to happen this time…"

Buffy looked taken aback at Faith's revelation. "It won't, Faith."

"I thought for sure that you would be Miss Straight America," the slayer said, going back to her original goofy state.

"Well, I hope you're pleasantly surprised. I know I am. I thought I was before I met you. Was it really only a few hours ago?" Buffy replied, stroking Faith's cheek gently.

"It really was, B," Faith assured her. "I've never felt like this for anyone. I was…drawn to you. Maybe it's the slayer thing, but maybe it's something more. I'm surprised, actually. Most of the time, men…and sometimes women…only want one thing from me, and they usually get it. This is different. I just know it is," she confessed.

Buffy's gaze softened as she looked upon her newfound friend. "I know how you feel. Will you—will you stay? Here…tonight?"

Faith smiled and kissed Buffy's forehead. "I think that can be arranged, but I'm outta here before your family finds us all wrapped up in bed together. They'll think I'm some…temptress demon—or something—that has come to steal their precious princess away into the night," she teased.

Buffy laughed quietly and snuggled into Faith, who ran her fingers through the sandy blonde locks of her slayer. "I think I can go to sleep now," Buffy admitted with a stifled yawn.

"Me too, B. Me too."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **Sorry for the long wait, but I've been a bit busy working on (and completeing) my second Charmed fanfiction. For those of you "Charmed" fans-who don't mind a lot of slash-go check it out and leave me a review. It's entitled "Something Wicca This Way Comes". Make my day and tell me what you think (but of course, no flames). The details about it are in the first chapter, so I'm not going to bore you with them here. I'm quite proud of it and I hope to follow it up with a sort of...prequel...sometime in the near future. But until I think of ideas for it, I give you the next chapter of "Faith, Hope, & Trick". Standard disclaimers apply...yada, yada. Enjoy your long-awaited read. :D x

* * *

When Buffy awoke the next morning, the sight she saw—or lack thereof—sent her sitting bolt upright. She could've sworn that last night her counterpart slayer had fallen asleep in her bed, and that she herself had fallen asleep in the dark slayer's arms. As of now, Faith was nowhere to be seen and Buffy could feel her heartbeat quicken in concern. It slowed slightly when Faith's words from the previous night dawned upon her memory: _"I'm outta here before your family finds us all wrapped up in bed together."_ What was rather worrisome was that Buffy hadn't woken when the other woman had departed. Instead, she had slept soundly through it and had no recollection of even stirring slightly. This stirred up the unwanted notion that maybe it had all been a dream; brought on by Buffy's longing for her dark-haired other. A knock on her door broke her away from this line of thinking.

"Buffy, it's time to get up! You're going to be late for school!" Joyce Summers called in to her before walking away to continue her morning rituals.

"I'm up," Buffy replied quietly, knowing very well that her mother hadn't heard her. With a disappointed sigh, she got up and began getting ready to carry out her day at her own personal Hell: Sunnydale High. She stretched her arms above her head with a yawn, loosening her sleep-tightened muscles. She looked around her room calmly with a contented smack of her lips. "Today's going to be so awkward…."

~x At Sunnydale High School x~

"There's a waters' retreat every year in the Cotswolds…" Giles informed the four normally abnormal teenagers sitting before him. He turned towards them and eyed them all over the polished table between them with a dreamy look. "It's a lovely spot. It's very…serene. There's horse riding and hiking and…_punting_ and lectures and discussions. It—it—it's a great honor to be invited. Or so I'm told," Giles stammered as he walked around the table and stood in front of his slayer.

Faith walked to stand behind Buffy, occasionally meeting a glance the blonde would toss towards her. The dark slayer had been playing with her counterpart's mind for most of the day, letting her think that last night hadn't really happened. Buffy's reactions to the thought were cute, bordering on adorable. Faith couldn't help but smirk every time Buffy's face would contort into a perplexed and thoughtful little frown. She clucked her tongue slightly as she moved again to stand directly beside Buffy, letting their shoulders touch—teasing the blonde. "Oh, it's boring," she replied to the crestfallen watcher. "Way too _stuffy _for a guy like you."

A confused expression crossed Buffy's face before she turned towards Faith and crossed her arms over her chest. Behind her, Xander and Willow snickered at Faith's comment, completely aware of how "stuffy" Giles actually was. "Um…maybe I should introduce you again. Faith, this is Giles," Buffy pointed out for the second time that day, lazily pointing her finger in her watcher's direction.

"I've seen him," Faith replied nonchalantly, crossing her arms over her own chest. "If I'd a'known they came this young and cute, I'd've requested a transfer." She grinned slightly at the now-disgruntled blonde.

"Okay, raise your hand if 'ew,'" Buffy instructed, to which Xander began to raise his hand, but quickly thought better of it and acted as if he were scratching his chin to cover up his blunder.

Giles tittered nervously, obviously flattered by the new slayer's words. "Well, uh…leaving aside for a moment my, uh, youth and beauty, I'd say it was fortuitous that Faith arrived when she did."

"Aha!" Willow cried, pointing her finger in the air as if coming to some mind-blowing conclusion. This outburst caused all heads to snap in her direction, all four of them eyeing her with puzzled looks. "Sorry. I just meant…aha! There's big evil brewin'. You'll never be bored here, Faith, 'cause this is Sunnydale, home of the big brewin' evil." Willow nodded her head curtly to show that she was done with her sudden speech.

Faith gave the redhead an amused smile before turning her attention back to Giles. "I don't know how big an evil it is at this point, but two people have disappeared in the Sunset Ridge district," the watcher stated with a grim look towards Buffy as he stepped forward to hand her the morning paper.

Faith stepped closer to the blonde as they both looked over the article Giles had pointed to. "I'm good for patrolling. Late-ish, though. I promised Mom I'd be home for dinner," Buffy replied as she looked up at Giles and the others. She found them eyeing her with expectant looks and smiles of encouragement. Faith bumped shoulders with her gently, causing the blonde to look towards her. At this moment, Faith chose to reach up and run her fingers through her hair, brushing the long and curled tresses back to reveal a small, purple bruise on her neck that could only be one thing. Buffy turned slightly crimson as she gazed at the mark that could only be her creation, causing Faith to smirk and ruffle her hair to cover up her action before dropping her hand back to her side—letting it brush gently against the back of Buffy's now-hanging arm as it went down. The revelation of the hickey on Faith's neck could only mean one thing; that the previous night's events hadn't just been her imagination. They had _actually _happened! Buffy felt overjoyed that she hadn't just dreamed last night up, and slightly taken aback as to why Faith chose now to let her know that. The latter caused her to stammer out the amendment to her pervious remark. "Um, to which you're invited, of course. Dinner…with us…."

Faith grinned widely at her counterpart and bounced slightly on the balls of her feet. "Dyin' to meet the fam. I'm in," she replied. She re-crossed her arms over her chest and bit her lower lip, eyeing Buffy with a seductive look that no one else seemed to catch.

"Great," Buffy exclaimed as she put her hands on her hips and slightly nudged the dark slayer. "Great, then we can patrol. Also together…" she finished, her voice taking on a dreamy tone. She was excited, as well as a little nervous, to be spending time alone with her equal.

"Hey!" Willow exclaimed as she narrowed her eyes towards her best friend. "Don't you have that health science makeup?"

"Oh, yeah. Actually, I could use a little coaching," Buffy said hopefully to her redheaded best friend, silently crossing her fingers behind her back that Willow would help her bail out of a flunk.

Totally ignoring the blonde's subtle request, Willow leapt forward off the table she'd been sitting on. "You know," she commented, now addressing Faith, "you can hang out with us while she's testing. Do you wanna?"

"Okay, just ignore me…" Buffy muttered, extremely vexed as she looked down at the ground and threw out her hand in defeat. Faith shrugged her shoulders, trying to give the blonde's friends the hint that she would rather them stay to help Buffy. She moved her hands down and placed them indignantly upon her hips.

"Say yes, and bring your stories," Xander added as he too hopped off the table and gathered his schoolbooks up in his arms. The redhead and the overly-sexed friends walked out of the library grinning widely, the latter of the two stopping to rub Faith's shoulder on his way out. Faith sighed and tossed Buffy an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry, B."

"You guys go. It's fine. It's _fine_. I'll just…sit," Buffy replied, slightly disheartened as she sat in one of the wooden chairs surrounding the small table in the center of Giles' library. She laced her fingers together and put them up on the surface in front of her, looking down at them and refusing to meet Faith's gaze.

This didn't settle too well with the other slayer. As soon as Giles had his back turned to the duo, she walked over to Buffy and leaned down to peck her on the lips. This took the blonde by surprise, and caused her to gasp against Faith's lips softly. "Good luck on your test, B," she whispered before standing back up and leaning over to kiss the top of Buffy's head gently. She was back in the place she'd been originally standing in when Giles faced the two of them once more.

She turned her head towards the blonde who was now staring back at her with a love-struck expression etched across her face and winked quickly. "Hey, later," she said to her other before turning her attention to Giles. "We will talk weapons," she stated matter-of-factly as she jabbed her finger in the watcher's direction before she turned on her heel and walked after Buffy's two friends, her heels clicking slightly on the tiled floor of the library.

As Faith walked away, Buffy watched her go with a small sigh escaping her lips. Giles seemed to be watching her too as he stepped closer to his slayer and hoisted himself onto the edge of the table Buffy was seated at. "This…new girl seems to have a lot of zest," he remarked with a small chuckle. Buffy turned her gaze towards him and gave him a look that conveyed her annoyance of her friends choosing the new slayer over her, but there was _something _else in that brief glance that confounded him…. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it was there, nonetheless.

He stuttered a bit and cleared his throat before continuing, "I—I've been having a little problem with the, err, binding spell for Acathla. Uh…I—I'm lacking the—the requisite details to perform it correctly. Now, physical location. Acathla was facing south?"

Buffy's eyes glazed over with sorrow as she nodded her head slightly to let him know that he was right. "Mmhm. Acathla, Angel, me…sword" she demonstrated, pointing her finger in the direction they had been standing when she'd killed her then-boyfriend. She looked back up at him with a vacant expression.

"That's what I thought, but—." He was cut off as Buffy stood and narrowed her eyes at him, another small sigh escaping her lips.

"Giles, look, I've got makeup tests to pass, missing people in Sunset Ridge, and a _zesty _new slayer to feed," she pointed out as she slung her backpack over her shoulders and gathered her books into her arms. "Next time I kill Angel, I'll video it." She walked away with tears clouding her vision, shaking her head slightly to clear it. Giles watched her go without a word. He merely wore a taken aback expression as he was left to wonder what had gotten into his slayer.


	8. Chapter 8

Willow, Faith, and Xander walked through the double doors leading out of the library and into the somewhat buzzing halls of Sunnydale High. Xander was walking unusually close to the newcomer; his arms swinging by his side and occasionally brushing against Faith. This caused her to stiffen slightly and move closer towards her new redheaded friend. All she needed right now was one of Buffy's friends hitting on her…. If Buffy saw that, Faith knew it was completely unknown _what _the blonde would do. She supposed screaming and Buffy walking away from her would be the majority of that aftermath. She didn't like that outcome, and so she was trying to avoid it at all costs.

Willow smiled towards the new slayer and began pointing out different areas of her beloved school. "And here we have the cafeteria, where we were mauled by snakes!" she pointed out, the goofy grin never leaving her face. She seemed almost overly excited to be showing the young slayer her school, and indeed she was. She was enjoying every minute she spent with Faith.

"And this is the spot where _Angel _tried to kill Willow," Xander pointed out as they walked on. He looked over at Willow as she continued their "tour".

"And over there in the lounge is where Spike and his gang nearly massacred us all on parent-teacher night," the redhead stated as she pointed towards her and her friends' favourite hangout—other than the library—in their school. Faith chuckled quietly and ran her hands down her leather-clad thighs. "Oh, and up those stairs, I was sucked into a muddy grave!"

The trio came to a halt as Faith broke away from the group to look up the previously mentioned stairs. Her mind was reeling from everything they'd told her about this high school that was seemingly a hotspot for supernatural activity. When she turned back towards them, a smile was plastered on her face and her hands were on her perfectly sculpted hips—which Xander couldn't resist staring at.

"And they say young people don't learn anything in high school nowadays, but, um, I've learned to be afraid," he commented with a curt nod of his head towards Faith, who let out a delightful laugh.

"You guys are a hoot and a half. I mean, if I had friends like you in high school, I…probably still would've dropped out. But I might've been sad about it, you know?" She shrugged her shoulders as if she'd completely lost her point, causing Willow and Xander to nod their heads in agreement and understanding. One thing about this tour did bother Faith, however, and that was the lack of mentioning Buffy in any conversation. The brunette slayer was chomping at the bit to know more about the blonde, and so far, she'd gotten nowhere except the knowledge of how Buffy kissed, and she knew that the older slayer talked in her sleep…which was extremely endearing in Faith's opinion. In a moment's notice, she decided to take the conversation into her own hands and steer it in another direction. "Hey, so what's up with B? I mean, she seems wound kinda tight…needs to find the fun a little, like you two. Any ideas on how I can get her to loosen up? Maybe take her out on a little girl-on-girl date?" Faith asked with a smirk as a crimson blush rose to both Willow and Xander's cheeks. They were probably getting a mental image of the two slayers being bad and getting "naughty". Of course, this visual almost had Xander drooling.

"Well, um—," Willow began, but was cut off as Faith pointed her finger in the direction of a nearby water fountain and began to walk away.

"Oh, water!" the dark slayer chuckled as she bent down to get a drink of the completely hot and totally gross liquid gushing from the fountain's faucet.

"And then the alligator story!" Xander called after her, never taking his eyes off of the slayer's ample bottom as she bent over to get her fill of the school's disgusting water. Xander chuckled at Faith's sashaying of her hips and glanced over at Willow. He was so caught up in the sight of the newcomer that he didn't hear Cordelia come up behind him. "She's got something, doesn't she?"

"What is it with you and slayers?" Cordelia asked, her voice taking on a slightly jealous tone. Xander whipped his head around and grinned at his girlfriend sheepishly. "Maybe I should dress up as one and put a stake to your throat," she stated as she narrowed her eyes at him angrily.

Xander let his gaze rake over his gorgeous girl and let his jaw drop. He eyed her hungrily for a moment before getting the nerve to reply, "Please, God, don't let that be sarcasm." He reached out and caressed the upset brunette's arm before leaning in to peck her quickly on the lips.

Faith released her hair that she had been holding back to keep it from getting wet as she straightened back up. She ran a hand through her tresses to ruffle them slightly as she began walking forward, not paying much attention to where she was going. A group of boys walked out of a classroom in front of her just as she took a step forward, causing her to jump back to keep from being knocked over.

"Oh, excuse me!" a handsome boy apologized as he stopped in front of her, letting his gaze take in her voluptuous form.

"Uh, sorry," Faith grumbled, not really feeling like taking the time to talk to this guy. The warm water from the fountain had her stomach feeling all queasy. It felt like the air inside of her was just _crawling _around. Realization hit her slowly as she finally looked at the boy's face. "I know you from somewhere," she remarked matter-of-factly.

The boy's face contorted in confusion before recognition dawned upon him. "The Bronze," he replied with a charming grin. "You're friends with Buffy, right?"

"Yeah, more so than you know. I'm Faith," she introduced herself as she held out her hand for him. He took it gratefully and let his grasp linger against her hand for longer than necessary.

"I'm Scott. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you," Faith replied with a small grin. She was really enjoying getting to know all of Buffy's friends, but she couldn't help feeling a tiny bit self-conscious. All of her male friends seemed to be hitting on her, and she didn't want Buffy to see that. If she did, it could possibly jeopardize any chance of having a relationship with the blonde slayer that she might possess, and Faith wanted nothing more than to be with her newfound comrade. "So, how do you know Buff?" she asked the flirtatious teen.

"Well, I'm two for two with the makeup tests!" Buffy announced joyously as she bounded down the stairs towards her friends. "Proud, yes, but also humble in this time of…." She trailed off as she stood right beside her friends, and they took no notice of her or her boasting. Already having a hunch, but wanting to confirm it, she asked, "We're looking at what?" Buffy turned her head in the direction her friends were staring in and what she saw didn't surprise her. She saw Faith and Scott talking and laughing amongst themselves, like they were the best of friends. Faith threw a playful punch at the boy's shoulder, and burst out in laughter as he reeled back, reaching up to hold his shoulder as if it hurt.

"So, you're trying to work up the balls to ask out B?" Faith laughed, tossing her hair back over her shoulders.

"That would be the situation, yes," Scott replied as he looked down at the tiled floor, grinning sheepishly.

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea…" Faith warned him, her friendly gaze turning cold and hard.

"Does anyone believe that that is her _actual _hair colour?" Cordelia asked, impervious to the hurt in Buffy's expression. Having not heard any of Scott and Faith's conversation, the blonde slayer was left to make her own assumptions—and she was coming to conclusions that she didn't like in the slightest. Cordelia merely scoffed and walked away from the group, finding that she had much better things to do.

"I haven't seen him laugh like that," Willow pointed out with a giddy expression forming on her face. "Hey, maybe Faith and Scott could hit it off!" She quieted after Buffy tossed her a look full of death threats.

Although Willow didn't know it, she'd actually just broken Buffy's heart. The blonde slayer had been content on trying to pursue a relationship with her counterpart, but if what Willow said were true, then she should just give up all hope. Maybe it was for the better. Angel was still a fresh heartbreak for her, and she doubted that anyone would be able to fill that hole.

"I mean, if you're done with him…. Not that you used him!" Willow amended, giving up with a crestfallen sigh. She cursed mentally and wanted to slap herself in the forehead. Oh, how she had a way with words, sometimes….

"Well, I hadn't definitely, 100% said no to dating for all time. I'm interested in someone, but it's just…you don't enter into these things lightly. There are repercussions to consider and.…" She trailed off as she glanced back towards Willow and Xander to see them exchanging a look. "Why am I seeing a look?"

"You really do need to find the fun, B…" Willow replied seriously. When Buffy fixed her with a taken aback, "What-Did-You-Just-Call-Me?" look, she gasped when she realized what she had said. "…uffy!"

The blonde sighed and rolled her eyes, huffing angrily away from her friends and towards the other slayer who was about to get an earful. Her hands balled tightly into fists as she thought about beating the sense into the two, chatting "buddies" as she walked closer towards them. She wanted to beat Scott for flirting with Faith, and she wanted to beat Faith for allowing Scott to flirt with her. She forced herself to slap a smile on her face as she stood next to Faith and wrapped an arm possessively around her waist. "Hey," Buffy sighed as Faith leaned against her slightly.

Scott grinned sheepishly as Faith turned her face towards Buffy and gently kissed the side of her head. "Hey, Buffy, uh, Faith has been telling me tall tales," he announced, not daring to meet the girl's green eyes. Buffy's gaze went hard at this revelation and she glanced over to see a positively beaming Faith. The dark slayer was just happy to finally be in Buffy's arms again, but she didn't know that Buffy was extremely vexed at her. All she had told Scott was that she was crushing on Buffy, too. She saw nothing wrong with that.

Buffy removed her arm from around Faith and reached out to take the dark slayer's hand in her own. "She's funny," Buffy commented, faking a smile towards Scott, "and she's leaving. We have to go." Without another word, she began tugging Faith back towards their friends.

"Oh," Scott replied, visibly disheartened.

"Bye," Faith called over her shoulder as she let Buffy drag her away. "He's a cutie. He's totally not your type, though. I imagine your type being the tall, tanned, dark-haired, brown-eyed, slayer type," Faith addressed the other slayer, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. Buffy just let her hand fall from Faith's and walked away from her, leaving her standing beside Willow and Xander, completely clueless.

"Guys, what did I do…?"


	9. Chapter 9

"Mr. Trick, talk to me," Kakistos ordered in a low-pitched voice. It sounded almost like a rumbling growl, and combined with his deep and ragged breathing, it was apparent that he was more than displeased. He watched with one seeing eye as the ebony skinned vampire kicked the wheel of an old, dusty cart before turning towards his boss.

"Check this out," Trick instructed as he walked closer to Kakistos. "This town, this very street, _wired _for fiber optics!" he pointed out. He let his eyes take in the form of his master sitting in a rickety wooden chair in the abandoned firehouse they had taken shelter in. Behind Kakistos chair was a large alter alight with many different candles. How…unfortunate…it would be if the alter were to topple over, setting his master ablaze. "See, we jack in a T3—twenty-five hundred MEGs per—we have the whole world at our fingertips. All I'm saying is, we stay local, where the humans are jumpin' and the cotton is high, but we _live _global. I mean, you get the hankerin' for the blood of a fifteen-year-old Filipina, then I'm on the Net and she's here the next day, _express air_." Trick gave his toothy, vampiric grin to his boss, who frowned back at him.

A low growl rippled from his throat as Kakistos glared at his assistant. "I _want _the blood of the slayer," he remarked menacingly.

Trick's smile died and he rapped his fingers against the legs of his trousers. "On that note, there's good news and bad. Rumor has it that this town already has a slayer, which makes two. I'm…not real sure how that happened."

Kakistos let out a bellowing roar as he jumped from his seat and bared his teeth in front of Trick's face. "I don't care if there are a hundred slayers! I'll kill them all!" Trick backed away slowly from his boss and eyed him with a look full of disdain. "She's going to _pay _for what she did to me!" the elder vampire shouted as he motioned with one cloven hand towards a zigzagging scar running down the length of the right side of his face. It pierced through a milky white eye and across the edge of his flared nostril.

"Yeah, she is," Trick replied, brushing off his boss's anger as if it were nothing. A knock on the door caused him to break his attention away from their conversation for a moment. "I'm running a computer check on every hotel, rooming house, and youth hostel in town." The black vampire turned his back on his quieted boss as he walked towards the door. "Meanwhile, as soon as the sun goes down, we're out in force."

Trick pulled on a large, leather glove onto his arm that went up to about his elbow before grinning wickedly at his boss and turning towards the door. "Food's here, boys," he announced as he pulled the door open and dragged the pizza delivery man into the firehouse. He slammed the door as soon as the man was inside and began feasting.

~x~

"So, you're a slayer, too. Isn't that interesting?" Joyce said, directing her statement towards Faith. The dark haired slayer was sitting across the Summers' rectangular dinner table from Buffy, leaned back in her chair and waiting for Joyce to put some of that wonderful smelling food on her plate. "Do you like it?"

"God, I love it," Faith replied as she balled her hand into a loose fist. Underneath the table, she tried to reach out and caress Buffy's leg with her foot, but as soon as she made contact, she felt the blonde jerk away from her. She tossed Buffy a questioning look, only to be ignored.

"Uh, Mom?" Buffy asked as she reached her hand out for the dish full of food Joyce was carrying.

"Just a second, honey," her mother replied while waving her away with one hand. "You know, Buffy never talks that way. Why do you love it?" Buffy sighed and folded her arms back across her chest as she looked down at her plate, studying the designs on the empty dish. Faith looked at her apologetically, but felt the need to be polite and answer Joyce's question.

"Well, when I'm fighting, it's like the whole world goes away and I only know one thing—that I'm gonna win, and they're gonna lose," Faith replied as she picked up her fork and began digging into her meal. "I like that feelin'."

Buffy began piling French fries onto her plate, still refusing to look up at Faith or her mother as Joyce sat down and began preparing her own plate. "Well, sure. Beats that dead feeling you get when they win and you lose," the blonde slayer grumbled.

Faith's eyes narrowed at her and she stopped with a full fork halfway to her mouth. "I don't like that kind of _negative _thinking in," Faith replied as she again tried to reach out to touch Buffy's leg. Again, the blonde pulled away from her, and Faith sighed and looked back down at her plate before continuing to get her fill.

"Right. Right! That could get you hurt. Buffy can be awfully negative sometimes," Joyce pointed out, causing Faith to look up at Buffy with a pitiful look. Hurt shimmered in her doe-like eyes, and she willed with everything in her that Buffy would stop treating her like she was the biggest bad in the world. "See, honey, you gotta fight that."

"Workin' on it," Buffy replied, mocking a small smile.

Joyce glared at her daughter before returning her gaze back towards Faith. "Faith, can I get you another soft drink?"

"Oh, you bet. Thanks," Faith replied as she handed Buffy's mother her empty glass. As Joyce walked away and into the kitchen, Faith looked up at Buffy, acting like she wasn't feeling put out. "She's really cool, huh?"

"Best mom ever," Buffy replied, not daring to meet Faith's eyes.

"Look, Buff, are you going to tell me what I did wrong, or do I have to make random guesses?" Faith asked quietly. Her brow knitted together in confusion as Buffy pushed her chair away from the table and stood.

"Excuse me," the blonde said as she turned and walked hurriedly into the kitchen after her mother. When she was in the kitchen, she let a tear fall from her eye and slide down her cheek, but she wiped it away before her mom turned towards her with a bottle of Cola in her hands.

"I like this girl, Buffy," Joyce pointed out with a smile as she twisted the cap on the bottle and began pouring some of it into Faith's glass.

"She's very personable," Buffy sighed. "She gets along with my friends, my watcher, my mom…." Buffy glanced over her shoulder back at Faith, who was greedily helping herself to some of the fries on Buffy's plate. "Look, now she's getting along with my fries." She rolled her eyes and looked back towards her mother.

"Now, Buffy—," Joyce began, but was cut off as Buffy continued.

"Plus, at school today, she was making eyes at _my_ not-boyfriend. She was letting him make eyes at her, too!" Buffy stopped after she realized what she'd said. Her green eyes went wide as Joyce fixed her with a scrutinizing look.

"And why wouldn't she let him 'make eyes' at her?" she asked suspiciously.

Buffy sighed and looked down at her hands. "I don't know…. Maybe I thought she was seeing someone else? I don't know!" The blonde bit her lip and refused to look back up at her mother.

"Did anybody else think Faith was seeing someone else?" Joyce asked as she stepped back and crossed her arms over her chest.

"No, but…I'm the one getting single, white-female'd here," Buffy pointed out, still refusing to meet her mother's gaze.

"Buffy, I think you're not entirely telling me the truth. What happened between you and Faith that's got you so worked up?" Joyce asked; her voice dropping into that motherly, "You'd-Better-Tell-Me-The-Truth-Or-Else" tone.

"It's…nothing. Look, I just got my life back. I'm not looking to go halfsies on it," Buffy replied, feeling a slight blush rise to her cheeks.

Her mother gave her a knowing look before pointing out, "Well, there are some things I'd be happy to see you share—like the slaying. I mean, two of you fighting have to be safer than one, right?"

"I guess," Buffy mumbled, finally looking up at her mom.

"I mean, unless…you heard her. She _loves _the slaying. Couldn't she take over for you?" Joyce asked hopefully.

"Mom, no one can take over for me," Buffy replied, smiling slightly towards her mother who only had her best interest at heart.

"But you're going to _college _next year. I think it would be—."

"Mom, the only way you get a new slayer is when the old slayer dies," Buffy explained. Her eyes went wide again after she realized what she'd said. She cursed at herself mentally for making so many slip-ups. She watched as Joyce's face morphed from one of happiness to one of absolute horror.

"Then that means you…. When did you die? You never told me you died!"

"No, Mom. It was just for a few minutes!" Buffy defended herself as she rose to her feet.

"Oh, I hate this. I hate your life," Joyce remarked as she walked around the kitchen, holding on to the counters for support. "Look, I-I-I know you didn't choose this. I know it chose you. I have tried to march in the 'slayer pride' parade, but…I don't want you to die," she confessed as tears rose to her eyes.

Buffy shook her head slightly and stepped forward to wrap her arms around her weeping mother. "I'm not gonna die," she whispered as she rubbed soothing circles on her mom's back. "I know how to do my job. Besides, like you said, I've got help now." She looked over Joyce's shoulder into the dining room where Faith was still stuffing her face like there would be no tomorrow. "I've got all the help I can stand," she continued with an affectionate little smile.

Joyce stepped back from Buffy's comforting embrace and narrowed her eyes at her daughter. After wiping her tears away and calming her sniffling, she put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow towards her daughter.

"What?" Buffy asked uneasily.

"So, when are you going to tell me how long I've been also been marching in the 'gay pride' parade, too?"


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: **What have I learned out of writing this chapter? Two things: I probably chose the wrong episode for a Fuffy fic and that I need more practice writing out fight sequences. :D Well, I hope you enjoy, nonetheless. x

* * *

Buffy and Faith walked side-by-side through the streets of Sunnydale as they patrolled their town. One could never be too cautious when dealing with these types of situations. Buffy tread easily over the ground, putting all of her weight in on her heels whenever she stepped, her footsteps deathly silent. She held a stake readily in her left hand while her right was hanging at her side, occasionally brushing against the back of Faith's left hand. The night air pressed down against them, making their clothes seem too tight and too hot. Their throats were dry, even though they had just finished off their water. This was the affect that anticipating something jumping out at you from behind ever corner had on a slayer. The expectancy of a fight was never too far behind when one would get this feeling. Crickets were singing their songs everywhere, hiding in the weeds of the nightly-abandoned construction site they were currently staking out.

"Didn't we do this street already?" Faith blurted out loudly, breaking the silence and looking towards Buffy. The blonde had been a bit easier around her ever since she and Joyce had had "that talk" during dinner, but Faith couldn't help but still feel slightly uneasy. Something she had done had rubbed the blonde the wrong way, and she wasn't going to give up until she knew exactly _what _she had done.

"Funny thing about vamps—they'll hit a street even after you've been there," Buffy quipped with a teasing smirk. "It's like they have no manners." Buffy craned her head, peering around the site. It looked clear to her, but she knew from experience that nothing should ever be taken for face-value.

Faith could feel her anger boiling beneath the surface. She'd just about had it with little goody-two-shoes mocking her slaying abilities and messing with her mind. "_Last night we were kissing and falling asleep in each other's arms! What the HELL happened?_" she silently screamed. Deciding on a rebuttal that might further the conversation, Faith shrugged her shoulders and replied, "Mmm…you've been doing this the longest."

"I have," Buffy replied curtly, sensing Faith's sarcasm.

"Yeah…. Maybe a little _too_ long," the dark slayer grumbled.

"Excuse me?" Buffy asked, slightly appalled. "What's that supposed to mean?" She fixed her comrade with a defiant glare as they walked on.

"Nothing…" Faith assured her, brushing her off with a wave of the hand.

"You got a problem?" Buffy asked, her voice raising an octave or two with her anger.

"I'm five by five here, B; living entirely large, actually wondering about _your _problem," Faith replied as she shrugged her shoulders, turning to face her equal. She met the girl's fiery green gaze evenly and held it, not willing to back down until she had made her point.

"Well, I may not sleep in the nude and rassle alligators—," Buffy began, but was silenced by a very irked Faith who turned away from her and began walking again.

"Maybe it's time you started, 'cause obviously _something _in your bottle needs uncorking. What is it, the _Angel _thing?" Buffy stopped in her tracks and gaped at the nerve of the dark slayer. When Faith realized that Buffy wasn't following her anymore, she turned and faced her, squaring her shoulders and balling her hands into loose fists.

"What do you know about Angel?" Buffy asked as she narrowed her eyes towards Faith. Her hands were clenched so tightly that her knuckles were bone white and her arms and knees were slightly trembling.

"Just what your friends tell me—big love, big loss. You oughta deal and move on, but you're not," Faith replied as she cocked her head sideways and smirked in a slightly cocky way that only she could manage.

"I got an idea," Buffy growled menacingly as she began to step towards the other slayer. "How about from now on, we don't hear from you on Angel or anything else in my life? Which, by the way, is _my _life!"

Faith chuckled quietly and let her gaze soften as she gazed upon her worked up and extremely feisty partner. "What are you getting so strung out for, B?" she asked quietly.

"Why are your lips still moving, '_F_?" Buffy asked sarcastically, causing Faith's stance to harden once more.

"Did I just hear a threat?" she asked. Her brow furrowed slightly in anger as she never looked away from Buffy's big, green eyes.

"Would you like to?"

Faith scoffed in reply, shaking her head slightly with a small laugh. "Wow. You think you can take me?"

Buffy smirked up at her. "Yeah," she replied. As she gaze was drawn to some movement over Faith's shoulder, her expression changed from one of cocky pride into concern. "I just hope _they _can't!" she continued as she wrapped an arm around Faith and shoved her roughly out of the way.

Faith grunted with the impact as she fell to the ground and turned to stare back at Buffy. When she did, she instantly felt a small gratitude well up within her, but her anger quickly overwhelmed that and she was on her feet instantly.

A vampire flew at Buffy after she had knocked Faith out of the way, but she quickly dispatched him by flipping him and laying him out flat. Another one rushed her from behind the first vampire, but she easily blocked his blow. The vampire snarled and bared his teeth in her face. It took everything in the blonde slayer to not recoil at the stench of her assailant's breath.

She knocked the vampire's arm away from her and tried to kick him away, but the vampire blocked the blow with his leg before extending his arm and letting his fist connect with the slayer's face. Buffy reeled back, stunned by the hit momentarily. She groaned quietly as she shook her head to clear her foggy vision. She could taste the coppery tang of blood on her tongue, and she made the assumption that the vampire had busted her lip. With a vicious snarl, Buffy sent herself back into the action and blocked another strike from her enemy. A fierce grappling match for dominance followed before Buffy—with a few quick turns of her arm—had the second vampire laid out on his back as well.

She wasn't expecting the third demon to charge her when he did, and so she was taken by surprise. One moment, she saw him barreling towards her, and the next she felt a burning pain slither its way up her back that was preceded by a metallic clank. She let out a whimper of pain as she fell to her knees, completely paralyzed from the blow. The vampire behind her smirked as he thought he had her—having taken her down with a metal pipe. His smirk died into an expression of confusion as his vision suddenly went black and he found himself being thrown into a wall.

As Faith stepped forward to help her comrade, the first vampire—who was back up and rearing for action—lunged towards the blonde, who gracefully dodged and turned on her heel to drive her stake into the demon's heart. She grinned with satisfaction as he turned to dust and evaporated before her very eyes. As she stood back up, another vampire grabbed her shoulders—causing her to drop her stake—and threw her against a pile of wooden crates.

The vampire that was now up against Faith was receiving the beat down of his life. Faith round-housed him with ease and sent him flying backwards into an iron beam. As he fell to the ground, she tossed a glance over her shoulder to see how Buffy was faring.

"Ugh!" Buffy cried out as she hit against the crates. Having landed on her back, all of the air was knocked out of her. She had to lay there for a few seconds to get her breath back into lungs that seemed to be completely devoid of oxygen. The vampire charged her again, but she was on her feet before he could pin her. Her leg sailed through the air in a graceful arch before her foot connected with the vampire and sent him spiraling back into the air. He screamed out in pain as he landed on top of a nearby dumpster and rolled off of it.

Faith's vampire was now on his feet and battling with her once again. He threw a hard punch that landed against Faith's cheek, but the brunette seemed to shake it off as she blocked the rest of his attacks. "My dead mother hits harder than that!" she taunted the creature before flinging him around and knocking him to the ground. When he was down, she straddled him and began beating the hell out of him—not letting up for a second.

Buffy threw her vamp away from her again and turned to look at her fellow slayer. What she saw shocked her. "Faith, stake him already and give me a hand!" she cried before she was tackled by her vampire. From where she lay on the ground, she reached out and reached out to grab her previously discarded stake. In front of her, Faith was still beating the living shit out of her vamp, screaming obscenities and random threats.

"This is me, you undead bastard!" she screamed, never taking notice of Buffy being pinned by two of the three vampires.

"For Kakistos we live!" shouted one of the vamps as he leaned in towards Buffy's neck. "For Kakistos you'll die!" Buffy grunted in exertion as she stretched her hand further, attempting in vain to grab her stake.

"Faith!" she cried helplessly. Buffy gave one final cry as she surged forward and grabbed the wooden stake in her hand. Thinking quickly, she rolled onto her back and used the blunt end of the weapon to knock the vampire pinning her back. She scrambled to her feet and kicked the other away from her. "Faith!" she called again, turning back towards the other slayer who was still thrashing on her first vamp. She turned back towards her own vamp as he surged forward in an attempt to grab her. Without a second thought, she jabbed the stake into his chest and pulled it out quickly, not taking the time to watch this one dust. With a growl, she rushed toward Faith and held her stake at the ready.

"You can't touch me!" Faith shrieked at her assailant. Buffy wrapped her arms around the girl's waist and dragged her off of the seemingly grateful vampire. Before he had the chance to get to his feet, Buffy jammed the stake through his heart and watched him turn to dust as Faith got to her feet and began brushing herself off.

"What is _wrong _with you?" Buffy shouted at the dark slayer.

"What are you talking about?" Faith asked, taken aback and slightly breathless.

"I'm _talking _about you 'living large' on that vampire!"

"Gee, if doing violence to vampires upsets you, I think you're in the wrong line of work!" Faith retorted as she continued brushing herself off.

"Yeah," Buffy murmured, "or maybe you like it a little too much."

"I was getting the job done," Faith replied as she calmed slightly and began to feel a sense of tiredness creeping into her bones.

"The job is to slay demons, not beat them to a bloody pulp while their friends corner me!" Buffy growled.

Faith shrugged her shoulders. "I thought you could handle yourself." Without another word, she spun around and ran off, leaving Buffy at the site alone. Buffy just stared after her and wondered if they would ever get their relationship back on track. She walked over to a metal beam and pressed her back against it. With a sigh, she slowly slid down until she was sitting on the ground—her knees pulled up to her chest. She covered her face with her hands as she began to sob quietly.


	11. Chapter 11

A terribly aching Buffy made her way through the halls of Sunnydale High slowly, her watcher walking faithfully by her side. Giles noticed that the blonde seemed to be walking with a slight limp, putting more weight on her right foot than her left. Buffy had been not-so-pleasantly surprised when she finally trudged home the previous night and peeled away her clothes to reveal multiple darkening blotches on her skin. When she had woken up the next morning, the bruises were almost gone, but the dull throbbing and the memories remained. She was angry and more-than-upset with Faith, but at the back of her mind, she found that she was worrying about her dark counterpart. She hadn't heard from her at all, and that was never a good thing with slayers…or at least it hadn't proven itself to be good. The night hadn't been kind to Buffy. Sleep hadn't found her until somewhere around four in the morning, leaving her with dark circles under her usually chipper green eyes. Her shoulders were slumped and her posture drooped, screaming of tiredness.

Giles had sighed when she went over how her patrol had gone last night. "What you must realize, Buffy, is that you and Faith have…very different temperaments," he stated as he raised his mug to his lips to sip down some of the boiling coffee inside.

"Yeah, and mine's the sane one," she retorted hotly, dropping her arms from where they were crossed at her chest to let them sway as she walked. "The girl's not playing with a full deck, Giles. She almost _no _deck. She has a three."

Giles slowed his pace before turning his head slightly to peer at his slayer admonishingly. "You said yourself that she killed one," he reminded her, his tone stating that he was not going to put up with her nonsense. "She—she—she's just a plucky fighter who got a little…carried away, which is natural. She's…focused on the slaying. She doesn't have a whole other life here as you do." He let his gaze fall away from Buffy, who looked back at him with an incredulous look.

"She doesn't need a life. She has _mine_," Buffy growled as Giles took another sip of his beverage.

Giles scoffed slightly in amusement at his slayer's waywardness before shaking his head at her. "I think you're being a little—."

"No, I'm being a lot. I know that," Buffy interrupted with a sigh, flinging her hands out in defeat. "But she nearly got us both killed. The girl needs help."

Giles gave a sigh of his own before stopping in the middle of the hallway to peer down at his watch. "Alright, I'll give her watcher a call at the retreat. They're…eight hours ahead now. Oh, they're probably sitting down to a nightcap…" he murmured wistfully, his eyes glazing over as his mind was overcome with images of the retreat. Buffy rolled her eyes and began walking away from him. "I wonder if they still kayak. I used to love a good kayak." Buffy shook her head and brought her hands up to rest on her hips as she walked back towards her watcher. "You see, they don't even consider—." As he turned to meet Buffy's gaze, she gave him a look that blatantly told him to shut up. "Sorry. I digress…. The, um, vampires that attacked you, can you furnish me with some details that might help me trace their lineage?" he asked as they began walking towards the library once more. "I mean, ancient or—or—or modern dress? Amulets, cultish tattoos?"

"Uh…no tats. Crappy dressers. And, uh…oh, the one that nearly bit me mentioned something about _kissing toast_. He lived for kissing…toast."

"Do you mean Kakistos?" Giles asked, turning towards his slayer suddenly. His tone of voice rose slightly with alarm as his eyes went wide and his brow furrowed.

Buffy didn't hear him as she ran over the vampire's words in her head, a far away expression plastered across her face. "Maybe he said taquitos…. Maybe he lived for taquitos." Buffy shook her head before looking up at her watcher in frustration. "What?"

"Kakistos," Giles replied before walking in front of Buffy at a hurried pace to get into his library.

Buffy shrugged her shoulders and watched her watcher walk away for a moment before following after him. "Is that bad?"

Giles shoved his way past the swinging double doors leading into the library with Buffy hot on his heels. "_Kakistos _is Greek," he explained as he set his coffee mug down on his desk. "It means the worst of the worst. It's also the name of a vampire so old that his hands and feet are cloven." Giles walked behind his head, shrugging his shoulders as he shed his tweed-style vest. He walked back into his private office and grabbed a thick and dusty book. The pages were torn on the sides and slightly yellow. The binding was creased, looking ready to fall apart, almost as if it was very ancient and well-read.

"Now, this guy shows up two days ago, right?" Buffy asked as she leaned against Giles desk. Skepticism was flaring up in her mind and she had to let her watcher know about her suspicions. "Right around the same time my bestest new little sister makes the scene."

"You think he and Faith are connected?" Giles asked distractedly as he let his eyes scan over the marked pages of his book.

"Giles, there are two things that I don't believe in—coincidence and leprechauns," she said as she walked over to look at Giles book. Of course, the knowledge it contained was all over her head. All she needed to know was where this granddaddy vamp was and how to slay him.

"Oh, Buffy…" Giles sighed as he looked up at her slightly disheartened. "It's entirely possible that they both arrived here by chance simultaneously." He disregarded her as he went back to looking through his book.

"Okay, but I was right about the leprechauns, right?" she asked, sticking out her lower lip slightly in a pout.

Giles narrowed his eyes in thought before nodding his head. "As far as I know, yes."

"Good," Buffy replied with a slight grin, feeling cocky over her first-class knowledge of leprechauns. "Okay, you get England on the phone. I'm gonna talk to Faith, see if Khaki Trousers means—."

"Kakistos," Giles reminded her quietly.

"_Kakistos_…rings a bell…or an alarm," she finished, patting the desk and pushing herself away from it, fully content on hunting Faith down, to both see what she knew and to make sure that she was alright.

"Right." Giles watched her leave the library before striding back into his office to do his research.

Buffy marched down the hallway with her shoulders set and her mind focused. She didn't have time for distractions and she was more than willing to get out of here and see her counterpart. Her hands were balled tightly into fists by her side as she walked on, ignoring the leers and curious gestures from her fellow classmates. Her head bobbed slightly as she walked as she was deep in her own thoughts. Turning the corner, she was almost out the door until…

"Hi," Scott called as he walked up to her, grinning charmingly. His hands were in his pockets and Buffy thought that he looked very cute as she broke her stride and turned to face him.

"Scott," Buffy remarked, her eyes going wide as she realized that this was a conversation she didn't want to have.

"How are you?" he asked, his voice rather loud and breathy. It was almost as if he was nervous about something.

"Uh, okay. You know, I gotta—." Buffy jabbed her thumb over her shoulder towards the door as Scott interrupted her.

"I know…be somewhere else, right? Think of this as my last-ditch effort. I realize that one more is gonna qualify as stalking. I've given it a lot of thought—some might say too much thought—to…to how I might be a part of your life. It begins with conversation. We all know this. Maybe over a cup of coffee, or maybe at the Buster Keaton festival—playing on State Street all this weekend…."

Buffy felt the corners of her lips tugging upwards into a small smile. He was so sweet after she'd blown him off multiple times, and he seemed to be genuinely interested in her. Even though she wanted to be with Faith, she decided that maybe she and Scott could be friends. He could be the next Xander. "You know, come to think of it, I—I don't think I've given a fair chance to…Buster Keaton. I…I like what I've seen of him so far. I think it might be time to see a little more," she replied, smiling her little half-smile up at him.

He let out a hefty sigh of relief before grinning back at her, his teeth extraordinarily white. "Keaton is key," he replied playfully. "Oh!" he exclaimed before reaching into his pocket for something. "Um, I got you a little present." He pulled out a little white box and held it between his hands. "The guy in the retro shop said that it represents friendship, and that's something I would very much like to have with you." He reached out his hand and gave the box to Buffy, who looked down at it uneasily. She didn't know what to say to this act of kindness. As she pulled the top off of the box and observed the little ring within, a faint ringing flared up in her ears and her eyes glazed over. "You like?" Scott asked, obviously oblivious to Buffy's distress.

In the box sat an exact replica of the ring Angel had given her last year before he turned evil. Tears welled in her eyes as she let the box and ring slowly fall from her hands. She watched it as it clattered against the floor, much like it had in her nightmares. "I can't…" she muttered. "I—I—I can't do this." She watched with fearful eyes as Scott bent over to pick up the discarded ring.

"Okay, I get the message," Scott replied, slightly crestfallen and broken-hearted as he walked past Buffy. He didn't look back to see if Buffy had watched him go or not, which she hadn't. She was still staring ahead of her to the place where the ring had fell into the floor as Giles walked up to her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Are you alright?" he asked before she shook his hand off and cringed away.

"Giles… Uh, yeah, I'm fine," she replied, reaching up to wipe her tears away from her eyes. Her face was slightly flushed and her chin was trembling with the effort of trying to hold back her tears. She shook her head to clear it. "Did you reach the retreat?" she asked, switching to business mode.

Giles sighed and looked away from Buffy. "Yes, I did."

"What—what did her watcher say?" she asked, now concerned for Faith from his expression.

"Her watcher's dead."


	12. Chapter 12

"The room is eighteen dollars a-day. That's _every _day," the manager of the motel Faith was staying at informed her. He put his hands on his hips and eyed her as if he were about to scold her. Faith slid her hands into her pockets and rolled her shoulders.

"Yeah, I know. I'll get it to you by tomorrow, I swear," she replied, giving him her best pleading look.

He sighed and threw out his hands. "It's not like I own the place," he pointed out.

Faith grinned wickedly and rocked back and forth on her heels. "But I bet you will someday," she said, her voice hinting at a seductive tone. Her best winning smile faded away as he turned to walk out the door.

"Not if I listen to broads like you," he muttered before his eyes landed on a nervous-looking Buffy standing in the open doorway. He rolled his eyes and shook his head, looking back towards the brunette and jabbing a finger over his shoulder in Buffy's direction. "Roommates are extra," he said forcefully.

"I'm just visiting," Buffy replied, crossing her arms over her chest. Her voice was scratchy and slightly hoarse, almost as if she'd been crying for quite awhile. Faith picked this up and looked towards her worriedly. She would never forgive herself if Buffy had been crying over her. It was bad enough that they had argued like they did last night. As the manager continued to look at her, Faith just shrugged her shoulders, earning her a distrustful look before he walked out of the room. Buffy moved forward to close the door behind him after he had left.

"So, what brings you to the poor side of town?" Faith asked gently, crossing her arms over her chest and watching as Buffy walked towards her.

The blonde's face went hard as she remembered what she was here for. This was going to be hard. Her heart ached to make up with Faith, but her work came before friendship. That's the way it had to be, especially after Angel. "Cloven guy," she replied harshly. "Goes by the name of Kakistos."

Panic edged its way into Faith's expression as she went rigid and glared back at Buffy. "What do you know about Kakistos?" she asked suspiciously. Her eyes flickered back and forth across Buffy's face, trying to read what she was thinking or feeling. The only thing she got was a coldness that she never wanted to see in those green eyes.

"That he's here," Buffy replied coolly, moving closer to her counterpart. Faith's eyes went wide as she just stared ahead. She was trying to work through her thoughts and come up with a plan incase what the other slayer told her was true. The more she tried to sort through them, the more jumbled they became. She found herself wanting to speak, but being lost for words. "So, we're not happy to see old friends, are we? What did he do to you?" Buffy asked, her voice going slightly gentler.

Faith brushed her hair back behind her ears and surged forward to grab her bag. "It's what I did to him, all right?" she replied as she slung her back down on her bed and began gathering her clothes up. She shoved them in, not taking the time to notice or care that they weren't folded.

"And what was that?" Buffy asked. She walked up behind the packing slayer as she waited for a reply that never came. "Faith, you came here for a reason. I can help." She reached out and tried to turn Faith towards her, only to be shrugged off and growled at.

"You can mind your own business. _I'm _the one who can handle this," Faith retorted hotly as she pushed her way past the blonde to gather the rest of her things.

Buffy's arms shot out and wrapped around the brunette, who struggled slightly before succumbing to the older slayer's grasp. She felt comforted being in the shorter woman's arms, but she also knew that there was no time to waste. She had to get out of here and out of here now. Her only regret would be leaving Buffy…. "Yeah, you're a real badass when it comes to packing," the blonde murmured, reaching up and brushing Faith's hair away from her face. She could feel the younger girl trembling, and she longed for nothing more than to help her and hold her. "What was it you said about my problem—gotta deal and move on?" She felt Faith tense up against her as she continued. "Well, we have the 'moving on' part right here. What about dealing? I want to help you, Faith…. I want to help you more than anything else, but you have to let me."

Faith sighed, her breath shaking just as she was. Her chocolate eyes glazed over with sadness as she looked down at Buffy. She pitched forward and pressed her lips against the blonde's forehead. She shut her eyes tightly as she let her lips linger there. She felt Buffy try to pull her closer, but she resisted. When she pulled back, she slipped out of Buffy's arms and resumed packing, at a slightly less panicked rate. "You don't know me," she whispered, not daring to look up and meet those green eyes. "You don't know what I've been through. I have to be the one to take care of this, all right?" She walked past her comrade and wrapped her fingers around the rusty doorknob leading out to the parking lot of her cheap motel room.

Buffy sighed as she moved to stand behind Faith. She didn't want it to have to be this way, but Faith was leaving her no choice. "Like you took care of your watcher?" She watched as Faith went limp and let her hand fall from the door. When she turned to face Buffy, her face was distraught and layered with sorrow. "He killed her, didn't he?" she asked softly, moving forward to wrap her arms back around her other.

Faith let her bag drop to the ground before clinging to the blonde tightly, burying her face against the crook of her neck. "They don't have a word for what he did to her," she breathed against Buffy's skin. She felt warm and stinging tears spring to her eyes, but she tried to push them back.

Buffy ran her hands up the girl's back and ran her fingers through those beautiful brunette curls. Faith began to pull back from their embrace, but she didn't move from Buffy's arms this time. She just looked into her eyes evenly, trying to make her understand the pain and guilt she'd endured. She wanted to let this woman help her; she wanted to trust her, but how could she? How could she trust anyone? Buffy's eyes dropped from Faith's down to the brunette's lips. Faith saw what was coming and began leaning forward just as the blonde did. Their lips were almost touching when a knock against the door startled them, causing Faith to jump slightly.

"Damn it," the brunette breathed as she turned in Buffy's arms to look through the peephole on the door. When she saw the motel manager through the fish-eyed view, she sighed in frustration. "What now?" she growled.

"Faith, you run, he runs after you," Buffy warned as she laced her arms back around the slayer from behind. She felt Faith lean back against her slightly before tensing up.

"That's where the head start comes in handy. I'm sorry, B. I have to go," Faith mumbled as she glanced over her shoulder. Buffy let her arms drop as Faith turned the knob and swung the door back. The dark slayer's eyes went wide with fear as the manager teetered back and forth, eyes glazed over with death. A cloven hand was wrapped around his neck, holding him up.

Faith made a whimpering noise out of fear as she tried to step back into her room and into the safe arms of Buffy. Her fearful eyes raked over the form of Kakistos, from the jagged scar across his face all the way down to his deformed hands. Kakistos was being flanked by his right-hand man, Mr. Trick, and another vampire that Faith had never seen before.

The two slayers could do nothing but watch as Kakistos dropped the dead manager and extended his arm, leaning against the feeble door frame. He smiled a vampiric grin at the brunette, not taking the time to notice the smaller blonde behind her. "Faith," he growled in a sinister greeting.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: **Is my writing starting to suck? I have noticed a shocking decrease in reviews, but a startling increase in views of this story. What's up with that? D: Ah, well...I hope this chapter makes up for it and sends your guys' love of this fan fiction skyrocketing again. I hope the ending isn't too cheesy, but I'll try to have the last chapter up by tomorrow evening. It all depends on when I wake up. Damned being unable to sleep when I'm supposed to... Anyways, enjoy.

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Kakistos surged forward and wrapped his cloven hand around Faith's throat. He basked in the feel of Faith's warm flesh beneath his grasp and the crushing sensation that he was causing. He tightened his grip as Faith's hands flew up; trying to claw her way out of his grip. "No," she spluttered as she fought against him, trying to suck in air to replenish her oxygen starved lungs. Her chest burned with the effort of trying to fight him off for breath. The only thing she could feel other than Kakistos' hand crushing her windpipe was Buffy's hands on her, pulling her back.

Kakistos cursed loudly as he lost his grip on the brunette, causing her to fall backwards into the room. The moment Buffy knew that Faith was out of his reach; she shot forward and slammed the feeble door against the vampire's arm. "Aagh!" he screamed as he tried to tear his way through; the pain of the door closing on his arm prominent within his mind, but not taking priority. As the pressure became greater and greater, he was forced to withdraw his hand and was greeted by the now-freed door slamming in his face. He heard the click of the lock sliding into place and the panicked screaming of Faith from the other side.

The brunette backed up slowly away from the door, reaching up to tangle her fingers in her tresses. She pulled on them as she fought to keep control of her sanity. "No!" she cried as stinging tears leapt to her chocolate eyes.

Buffy braced herself against the door, trying with all her might and willpower to keep Kakistos out of the room and away from Faith. "I just bought us…a little more time," she grunted as she pressed her weight back against the wooden door. As soon as the words left her lips, a cloven fist broke through the wood; missing her by a few mere inches. She felt her heart sink as Kakistos began clawing bits of the door away.

"No! No!" Faith continued to cry as she shut her eyes tightly. She wanted to open them and realize that all of this was all just a dream, but she knew that that would never happen because the scraping of his hoofs against the wood raked across her eardrums relentlessly.

"Scream later. Escape now!" Buffy ordered as she threw more of her weight against the crumbling door. When she was sure Faith was with her again, she ran forward and grabbed the brunette's hand in hers. With all of her strength and speed, she pulled them both forward just as the door of the motel room flew off its hinges, letting Kakistos and his lackeys into the building.

Letting out a small grunt, Buffy let her leg sail through the air in an untidy swing until it connected with the glass of a small window at the back of the room. It shattered against the impact, and she found herself shoving Faith through it before leaping through herself. As she landed feet-first on the ground, she didn't look back over her shoulder, but she knew that the vampires were hot on their heels. "Let's go," she muttered breathlessly as she once again took Faith's hand and began dragging them towards safety. She felt the warm, stickiness of blood between their clasped palms and the grating of tiny glass fragments in her skin, but she didn't have the time to worry about that right now.

As the two ran down the dark alleyway of Sunnydale, they heard the clatter of their pursuers' feet behind them. Thinking quickly, Buffy made a sharp turn and sent the both of them tearing down a branch off alley. The sound of hard footsteps behind them died away momentarily, but neither of them turned to look back. They knew they had to keep running.

Seeing safety just around the bend, Buffy hurled herself through a boarded up window to their side, landing on the inside of an abandoned firehouse in a bed of broken glass. She groaned at the impact, but turned just in time to catch a flying Faith who had jumped through the window after Buffy. Ignoring their pain, they stood and looked through the now-broken window, seeing Mr. Trick and his followers run past them. "We're okay," Buffy whispered as she turned towards Faith. "What happened?" Faith's expression morphed into one of extreme fear and indecisiveness. She didn't know if she could trust Buffy with her secret, but the blonde was leaving her no choice. "Faith, what happened?"

The brunette drew in a ragged breath before looking into her counterpart's friendly, green eyes. "I…I was there when he killed my watcher, and I…saw what he did to her—what he was gonna do to me. I tried to stop him, but I—I couldn't. And I ran…." She trailed off as tears flooded her eyes and began trickling down her cheeks. She didn't want to cry in front of the older woman, but she couldn't stop the flow of tears.

"Faith," Buffy murmured gently as she stepped forward and enveloped the girl in a tight embrace, "first rule of slaying—don't die. You did the right thing. Okay? You didn't die." She pressed her lips against the younger girl's dampened cheek. She could taste the salty tang of tears against her tongue as she pulled away, but she continued anyway. "Now, you do the math. One of him, two of us…." Her brow furrowed in confusion when she felt Faith stiffen up in her arms and cast her eyes away in another direction. She watched as the brunette shook her head slightly. "Yes," she insisted, bringing her hand up to cup Faith's cheek. As she did so, she moved her thumb under Faith's tear-glazed eye, wiping away the moisture that remained against her skin.

"_No_," Faith whispered as she continued shaking her head. "This is his place."

Realization dawned on Buffy as Faith nodded her head over Buffy's shoulder, motioning towards something that the blonde didn't want to see. She gasped in shock as she turned around and let her gaze rake over the sight before her. Lying in a cold puddle of blood was a pile of drained corpses, all with bite marks upon their neck. Their skin was white and stiff with rigor mortis, making for a bone-chilling view. "He drove us here," she mumbled as her eyes shot towards the entrance of the seemingly-abandoned firehouse. A vampiric head popped into view just as the words left her lips, startling them both and sending them fleeing further back into the building.

They soon found themselves surrounded and had nowhere else left to run. Buffy—being one for thinking on her feet—hooked the toe of her boot in a discarded pail at their feet before flinging it in the nearest vampire's direction. As it collided with his head, he was sent reeling back onto the ground; momentarily out of the fight. Never breaking stride, Buffy made a continuation of the kick and took out two charging vampires, blocking their attempts to grab a cowering Faith. She grabbed nearby crowbar and slammed it across the side of a female vampire's head. A hurried glance over her shoulder revealed a trembling Faith being approached by a very angered Kakistos. "Faith!" she called, making the brunette's head whip around to look in her direction. "Don't die!" she ordered as she tossed the crowbar. She turned her attention back to her own fight as the metal bar landed in the dark slayer's outstretched hand.

Kakistos grinned as Faith pulled back her arm, readying to strike out at him. Before she even had the chance to swing, he surged forward and sent her flying back through a support beam with a single punch. He knew in that moment that this was going to be much easier than he had originally thought. He walked towards her slowly and chuckled sadistically as she threw her arms up, trying to defend herself.

Mr. Trick walked through the firehouse slowly, nodding his head towards the single fighting slayer and the then towards the soon-to-be-disposed-of one. He evaluated the situation calmly, watching his master and fellow lackeys work. He never moved to help either party, he just sat back and watched.

Faith whimpered as she scrambled backwards until her back collided with a wall. She tried to cry out for Buffy as Kakistos grabbed her by the throat once again and hoisted her into the air. She could only watch as he balled his cloven hand into a fist and sent it flying towards her. She was momentarily stunned as her head snapped backwards with the force of impact. Kakistos let her fall to the floor, rolling his head about on his shoulders as he prepared to rip out her heart and drain it of its blood.

Buffy staked her vampire quickly before looking over to see how Faith was faring. What she saw frightened her until she was sure her heart would stop beating. Kakistos was looming over a delusional Faith, who was just lying underneath him, unmoving. "_Oh, God,_" she thought nervously before getting up the nerve to run forward and begin battling with Kakistos.

"If we don't do something, the master could get killed," Mr. Trick pointed out to the only other vampire remaining "alive". Neither one of them moved forward to assist him; instead Trick turned his head towards his fellow vampire and clucked his tongue. "Well, our prayers are with him." Without looking back, he and the other vampire turned to leave. "There's a reason these vengeance crusades are out of style. See, the modern vampire, we see the big picture."

Just as they walked out of sight, Buffy managed to shove her stake through Kakistos heart, only to remain staring in his bloodthirsty eyes. A malicious smile snaked its way across his face as he let himself take in the taken aback expression of the slayer. He grabbed her by the neck and slung her back into a wall. She grunted with the impact before being left to gape at the wonder that he wasn't a pile of dust by now. Her eyes were so focused on the still-breathing vampire that she didn't notice Faith rousing by her side.

"I guess you need a bigger stake, Slayer," Kakistos growled before throwing his head back in a maniacal laugh. Just as the words slithered from between his lips, Faith grabbed the broken support beam beside her and lunged forward, shoving it through his chest with frightening ease. Kakistos looked up at Faith with a vicious gleam in his eyes before he turned to dust around the "bigger stake". As he dissipated, Faith let the beam fall from her hands and backed away from the collecting pile dust on the ground.

Buffy's eyes went wide as she moved forward to put her arm around the shaken slayer. She felt the brunette lean against her, and they both revealed in the closeness between them. She chuckled softly as she felt Faith timidly place her hand over Buffy's. Looking around the firehouse for any signs of remaining vampires, they both remained in their out-of-breath silence before Buffy chose to break it.

"You hungry?" she asked, turning her eyes towards the still-visibly-shaken brunette. She felt the previously-thought-to-be-dead butterflies in her stomach flutter their wings madly about as the corners of Faith's mouth pulled upwards into a small smile.

"Starved," she replied as she turned to capture the blonde's lips with her own. At first, when their lips touched it felt hesitant and almost yearning. As it deepened, they both felt each other relax in the other's arms, and a sense of serenity washed over them completely. They both knew that—with Kakistos finally gone—Faith's inner-struggle could be forgotten. She had avenged her watcher's death, and for the first time in months, the brunette felt at peace with herself. Knowing that this wasn't their first or their last chance to embrace as lovers, they went about it slowly. Their actions weren't melancholy or full of sorrow, but their roaming hands were tender and caring as they sought out the other's centre. As they both found what they were looking for with pleasured gasping and affectionately whispered nothings, they pulled each other closer and fell into the blissful rapture of their love-making.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: **Wow. How long has it been since you guys got an alert about THIS fan fiction? Well, I felt really guilty about leaving it incomplete when I only had one more chapter left to do...and so here it is. The final chapter. As much as it was hurriedly written and crappily put together, I hope you guys still enjoy it and I hope you enjoyed the ride as much as I did. Also, I'd like to mention there there will more than likely be more Fuffy stories (although they'll be completely much faster than this one was) coming from me in the near future. So hit that Alert button, will ya? Review if you would like to, but I'd like to remind you that flames are bad. If you didn't like it, I never forced you to read it. So...please be nice. Sorry about the shit ending to this. :/ I didn't know how else to end it? But um...let me know what you think...unless it's bad. Then keep it to yourself. Let it bottle up until you explode because if you're a jerk, the world is probably better off without you. . Anyway, I have to pee now...so I'm gonna stop writing this. Enjoy! xx

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Back at Sunnydale High, a rather jubilant Rupert Giles bounded out of his librarian's office with a gleeful bounce in his step. Half of his mouth curved up into a gentle slope, creating that crooked, half smile that the Scoobies had come to know, love, and respect over the past three years. His usual tweed suit clung to his body ever-so-neatly as he stood in front of his slayer and her redheaded friend. He wrung his hands together in a nervous manner as he let his eyes flicker over Buffy Summers and Willow Rosenberg. "The Council has approved our request," he informed them almost excitedly as they looked up at him expectantly. "Faith is to stay here indefinitely. I'm to look after you both until a new Watcher is assigned."

Buffy let a small smile creep to her lips as Giles moved away to tidy up a nearby stack of books and papers. She scooted back slightly on the desk in which she was sitting on and crossed her long and slender legs. A far look crossed her face as she let herself get lost in the memories of the previous night. "Good. She really came through in the end," she replied nonchalantly, trying to mask her true feelings from her now shared Watcher. Willow looked up at her with a knowing glance, but quickly looked away before Giles could catch on and let Buffy continue. "She had a lot to deal with, but she did it. She got it behind her."

"I'm glad to hear it," Giles mumbled, keeping his focus on tidying his library.

Buffy quietly stood and let her eyes drop to study the pattern on the floor beneath her feet almost guiltily. "Angel was cured," she whispered, her voice barely audible. Giles eyes snapped away from what he was doing to look at her in shock. Willow's green eyes widened as she let her friend's words slam into her eardrums.

"I'm sorry?" Giles asked confusedly.

Buffy let her eyes flick up to meet her Watcher's. "When I killed him, Angel was cured. Your spell worked at the last minute, Will. I was about to take him out and, um, something went through him…and he was Angel again. He—He didn't remember anything that he'd done. He just held me. Um, but it was…it was too late, and I had to. So I told him that I loved him…and I kissed him…and I killed him." Buffy let her eyes fall back to the floor as her Watcher and best friend continued to look at her in disbelief. "I don't know if that helps with your spell or not, Giles."

Giles let his tongue run over his lips before looking away from his slayer and stammering, "Yes, uh, I—I believe it will."

"I'm sorry," Willow whispered, not knowing what else to say and having nothing else to say for once.

"It's okay," Buffy replied. "I've been holding onto that for so long. Felt good to get it out. I'll see you guys later." With that being said, Buffy turned on her heel and walked out of the library, leaving Willow still taken aback, and Giles to return to his tidying.

"Giles, I know you don't like me playing with the mystical forces, but I can really help with this binding spell," Willow stated as she stood from where she'd been sitting the whole time. She gave the Watcher her best pleading, puppy look.

"There is no spell." Giles walked away and left the redhead to her thoughts.

~x~

Buffy leaned against one of Sunnydale High's cream coloured walls as she waited for a certain "guy" friend of hers to walk out of his current class. "Scott!" she called when she spotted him not long after the bell had rung. She walked forward to meet him, catching the uneasiness in his stance.

"Uh, hello…" he said cautiously as he slung his backpack over his shoulders and straightened himself up.

"Hey. Uh, I was, um, I was waiting for you to get out of class," she explained, throwing a thumb over her shoulder to motion to where she had been standing.

"Oh, uh, why?" he asked, seeming to relax a little.

"There was something…a while ago, and the ring sort of confused me. But I liked what you said about friendship. I liked it a lot. And Buster Keaton—big fun. And I'm capable of big fun, even though there's no earthly way you could possibly know that about me. Wow, if I knew I was going to go on this long, I probably would've brought some water. Uh, what I'm trying to say is, um…if you would still like to go to the film festival—and I would understand if you didn't—I'd pretty much love to go with you."

"Uh—ahem…" Scott cleared his throat as he looked down at his shoes with a perplexed look crossing his face. "I don't know, Buffy. I'm really gonna have to think about this." He turned as if to walk away and immediately turned back to the blonde. "Okay, you know what? I thought about it, and I'm in. When do you want to go?"

"Well, uh, I have one thing that I have to do tonight, and then I'm good, unless Faith decides to make any plans with me."

"Good," he replied with a suave smile.

Buffy bit her lip and looked at him, her eyebrows knitting together in concern. "There's also something else, and yeah, I know…who am I to be making conditions when I'm trying to ask for your forgiveness for my terrible case of the wiggin's, but…if we _do _go to the film festival, I want it to be clear that it's not a _date_. More of a…get together of two friends…" Buffy confessed, eyeing the young boy sheepishly.

"B-But why not? I mean…I like you, and I thought you liked me…?" he asked, clearly taken aback at the blonde's hesitance to call it what he thought it was—a date.

"Um…Scott, there's something you need to know about. I'm already involved with someone, and I need me and you to just be friends. I'm with Faith now—the girl you met the other day," the blonde slayer admitted, wringing her hands together and waiting for the man's reaction.

"Oh, uh…this just became slightly awkward then," he replied with a nervous laugh. "She was just telling me the other day that she was crushing on you. That's what we were talking about before you…well, for lack of better understanding, dragged her away. She might have threatened me slightly, and made it clear that it was in my best interest not to ask you out again…."

Buffy felt a small smile tugging at her lips as she let what Scott had just told her roll over in her mind. "Well, that's Faith for you…. She comes off as all badass, but in reality, she's really just a big, lovable teddy bear. She's _my _teddy bear. And about that…the whole dragging her off thing, I'm really sorry. I thought you two were hitting it off, and jealousy kicked in and, well…you know how that goes," Buffy explained with a nervous titter. "Anyway, I'm supposed to be meeting her for lunch, but thanks for understanding about the whole 'just friends' thing. I wouldn't want Faith to get her hands on you if she thought it was a date," Buffy joked. Scott looked extremely nervous and worried as he turned and began walking as quickly away from the slayer as he could, all in the hopes that her girlfriend wouldn't see them together. "See you later then?" Buffy called after him almost sarcastically.

"What exactly was that about, Miss Summers?" a familiar voice piped up behind the blonde. The next thing she knew and felt were two strong, but feminine arms being wrapped around her waist. She leaned back into her counterpart and let herself be comforted by Faith's closeness.

"Oh, nothing, I was just apologizing about my horrible behaviour lately, and he was very understanding. And what's this I hear about you threatening him?" Buffy asked, feigning anger at the brunette. She felt the other slayer stiffen against her and quickly turned her head to place a gentle kiss on Faith's cheek. "Calm down, I think it's cute…in a possessive and odd kind of way," Buffy laughed.

Faith gave her a crooked half smile before darting forward and pressing her lips against the blonde's. They pulled apart almost immediately when they heard a nasally and irritating voice gripe at them for PDA. "I don't even know that man, but he's soon to be a dead one…" Faith growled as her eyes followed Principal Snyder as he walked away from the new couple.

"Eh—let it go. I'm sure he'll get eaten by a pack of hyenas possessed students any day now. I mean, that seems to be the popular trend… But, I—on the other hand—feel as if I've just slayed an entire horde of vampires. I'm starving. Let's go get some food!" Buffy exclaimed, as she placed a hand over her rumbling belly.

"Um—if you're feeling like you just slayed an entire horde of vampires, are you sure hungry is the only 'h' word you're feeling, and can I benefit from it later?" Faith quipped as the blonde grabbed her hand and began dragging her to the cafeteria.

"Oh, ha-ha… We'll see."

~x~

Later that same night, Buffy approached Angel's old manor with the promise ring he'd given her clutched tightly in her hands. The skin of her knuckles were stretched so tightly over the bone that they were completely washed of colour. Being her made her heart ache and old feelings resurface. She hated that, because Faith was now trying to help her forget. Angel was her past. Faith was her future. She just knew it. She believed it. She _had _to.

A whispered goodbye fell from her lips as she placed the ring down on the marble floor in the center of the mansion. She didn't bother sparing a glance back at it, or she might've felt the urge to run back and retrieve the ring. The blonde had to be stronger than that. She couldn't succumb…no matter how much she wanted to.

With a lowered head and a heavy heart, the one of now two slayers walked out of the manor and began on her way to meet the Scoobies for a much needed break from everything to do with slayage. Had she looked back just once more over her shoulder as her heart was practically begging her to, she would've noticed the building erupt with an eerie light as a strange vortex opened above the discarded ring.

A nude man suddenly appeared and fell to the floor with a sickening thump. He was shivering and covered in a thin sheen of cold sweat. Scars and bruises littered his body as he tried to push himself up off the ground. His breath came out ragged and heavy. Where was he? Where had he come from? How long had he been gone?

Angel shakily got to his feet and looked around his home…not recognizing it as his and wondering why he'd been set free from his Hell dimension and why he suddenly felt so…thirsty.


End file.
